Former Kettering Lt. hired as Butler Twp. Sgt.

UPDATE @ 3:29 p.m.

Former Kettering Police Lt. Bill Karolyi has been hired to work as a road patrol sergeant for Butler Twp.

Karolyi was sworn-in as an officer on Monday, said Butler Twp. Police Chief Jim Cresie.

Karolyi was the highest paid law enforcement official in Montgomery County in 2014. He made $150,059 last year, including $41,408 in overtime, according to a recent analysis by Dayton Daily News.

Cresie noted that Karolyi is more than qualified for the position given his time and position with Kettering police,

Cresie said part of the check into Karolyi’s background included the investigation into the alleged affair he had with a subordinate in Kettering.

Cresie said the issue “ended his career” with Kettering police, but it didn’t meet Butler Township’s criteria for disqualifying him as a candidate.

Cresie said he doesn’t expect to have the same issue, but if it does, such behavior would also end his career with Butler Twp.

FIRST REPORT

A Kettering police lieutenant resigned earlier this week after admitting to having an affair with a subordinate.

Lt. Bill Karolyi — an 18-year veteran with the city — officially resigned from the Kettering Police Department, as did the dispatcher who Karolyi had an affair with, Karolyi and city officials confirmed Friday.

The dispatcher has been identified as Molly Davis.

Karolyi, whose resignation was effective Feb. 9, served as a lieutenant the last six years.

According to Police Chief Jim O’Dell, Kettering officials conducted an internal investigation of alleged violations of the Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination policy, based on a complaint by a city employee. The investigation concluded that there were no violations.

“But there was misconduct, not based on the original complaint,” O’Dell said. “We looked into that and our investigation revealed that there was inappropriate conduct.”

During the course of the investigation, Karolyi submitted his resignation.

Karolyi, 45, said Friday that in June he had a “one-night stand” with an unidentified female dispatcher. The sexual encounter happened while both were off duty, said Karolyi, who has been married for 14 years and has four children.

“People make bad decisions, and I own up to it and I’m going to move on from here,” he said.

Karolyi said it was in his best interest to resign to focus more on his family.

“I spent the last 18 years devoting my life to the Kettering Police Department and not my family,” said Karolyi, who was named officer of the year in 2006. “That’s probably where I went wrong. Now I can refocus and work on concentrating on my family.”

Karolyi had applied for the Kettering police chief position, which will become vacant on April 1 when O’Dell retires after 30 years with the department.

Karolyi, who was one of 56 people to apply, said he was in the final 10 before he withdrew from the process.

“This investigation had no link to (the application process) at all,” O’Dell said. “The two were not related.”

Kettering spokesperson Stacy Schweikhart confirmed that the city has conducted a couple rounds of interviews in the search for a new police chief, and Karolyi was not part of the most recent round of interviews.

A new police chief is expected to be announced in March.

“It’s a bruise,” O’Dell said of the resignations. “The buck stops here, so I take responsibility for this. It was a failure. It pains me that things happen like this. You learn from these things and go on. The key is we did the right thing and we’ll continue to do the right thing.”