A Philly homicide detective has been charged with sexually assaulting the mother of a slaying victim
Donald Suchinsky was charged with aggravated indecent assault and suspended with intent to dismiss from the Philadelphia Police Department.
A Philadelphia homicide detective who had been accused of sexually assaulting the mother of a slaying victim was charged Friday with crimes including aggravated indecent assault, official oppression, and stalking.
Donald Suchinsky, 57, was arraigned Friday and released after posting 10% of $250,000 bail.
A police spokesperson said Suchinsky — who’d been placed on restricted duty in 2021 — has been suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss, the standard process by which officers are fired.
It was not clear if Suchinsky, a 34-year-veteran of the department, had retained an attorney. He could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday. A spokesperson for the police union declined to comment.
Suchinsky was assigned to investigate a fatal shooting in November 2020 and soon began to pursue a sexual relationship with the victim’s mother, according to charging documents obtained by The Inquirer. Suchinsky repeatedly called the woman — identified in the documents by the initials L.S. — and sent her emails, often asking that she send photos of herself or share personal information.
Later that month, the documents say, L.S. drove to the former police headquarters on the 700 block of Race Street, where Suchinsky got into her car. The pair then drove around looking for a parking spot, the documents say, at which point Suchinsky began groping her and digitally penetrated her.
Investigators later recovered emails Suchinsky sent to L.S., in which the detective said he wanted to see her, at one point adding: “And I don’t mean at work. ...” L.S. told investigators that on phone calls, he was more explicit, proposing meetings at hotels or “at midnight.”
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, which declined to comment on the case, filed seven charges against Suchinsky altogether. The most serious, aggravated indecent assault, is a felony that carries up to 10 years in prison.
Suchinsky has been benched since 2021, the year L.S. first made those allegations to Internal Affairs investigators.
Those claims were also laid out in a federal lawsuit filed in January that alleged Suchinsky’s misconduct was part of a predatory pattern.
The lawsuit, also filed under the initials L.S., sought to hold the Police Department responsible for failing to prevent such behavior.
It cited as support the case of former homicide detective Philip Nordo, who was convicted of sexually assaulting informants and sentenced to up to 49 years in prison in December.