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Tuesday, March 24, 1998 Page: 6A
WILKES-BARRE- A Nanticoke man found guilty of burglary last month was
sentenced Friday to three to 10 years in state prison.
Michael A. Holminski, 43, of West Church Street was charged in August with
breaking into the home of 93-year-old Helen Wysocki of State Street,
Nanticoke, and stealing two purses, police said.
Luzerne County of Common Pleas Judge Patrick Toole also ordered him to pay
$250 in restitution.
Wysocki was sleeping when she was awakened at about 6 a.m. Aug. 8 by
Holminski and another man, police said. One of the men grabbed two purses at
the edge of her bed, and both men fled.
About an hour after the burglary, David Weher, a security guard at the
Luzerne County Courthouse, told police he saw a man get out of a car and toss
something into the river from the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Weher chased the
car on foot and obtained the license plate number.
The purse, which was retrieved from the river, was missing $400, police
said.
Police interviewed Holminski a few days later and he denied any involvement
in the crime.
A jury found Holminski guilty on Feb. 11 of one count each of burglary,
theft, criminal trespass and criminal conspiracy.
Man pleads no contest to rape of girl, boy
WILKES-BARRE- A former Nescopeck man pleaded no contest Friday to charges
he raped a 9-year-old girl and her older brother nearly six years ago.
Robert Guy Carrol, 52, formerly of East Second Street, raped and sodomized
both children in his care while their mother entered a drug and alcohol center
in Berwick.
Carrol pleaded no contest to rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,
corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children. Several charges
of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault were
dropped in exchange for the plea.
The siblings testified the attacks occurred during a weeklong period when
their mother was in the detoxification center.
The girl testified at the preliminary hearing in June 1997 that Carroll
raped and sodomized her and put his genitals in her mouth in late December
1991 or early January 1992. At the time of that hearing, the girl was 15 and
her brother was 17.
The brother testified he awoke to find Carroll tying his hands and legs to
a bed. Carroll then sodomized him, he said. The boy said Carroll attempted to
sodomize him a second time, but he escaped and hid under debris in a shed
until Carroll went away.
It was unclear whether both incidents occurred on the same night