The election race to lead the most populous town in the US has gone down a perverted rabbit hole featuring bestiality, porn and a Marine veteran ex-NYPD cop.
The campaign for Long Island’s Town of Hempstead supervisor turned sickeningly X-rated when an old social-media post recently surfaced suggesting Democratic candidate Joseph Scianablo once boasted about looking at “animal porn.”
“i just s—t myself while watchinG animal porn,” reads the Dec. 27, 2008, post on Scianablo’s Facebook page.
While Scianablo is claiming his brother posed as him to post the twisted missive as a joke, the Dem’s foe, interim Republican Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti, said he is still disgusted by the antics involving “bestiality” and that the whole sordid ordeal makes his opponent unfit for office.
“This is not a joke. This is not a youthful mistake. This is a statement that celebrates the
abuse and exploitation of animals—and it is beneath the dignity of any individual
seeking public office,” Ferretti told The Post.
Ferretti noted that the job of Hempstead Town supervisor involves the direct oversight of the Hempstead Animal Shelter, which is designed to rescue, protect and care for cats and dogs, many of which have already been victims of cruelty and neglect.
“The idea that someone who created a social media post to celebrate bestiality and publicly joked about it could be in charge of protecting animals is both sickening and unacceptable,” Ferretti said. “We are not talking about politics—we’re talking about basic decency, judgment, and humanity.”
Scianablo — a Marine combat veteran, retired NYPD officer and former prosecutor in the Queens District Attorney’s Office — admitted that the post was written under his name but claimed he was the victim of a prank by his brother, Jason, at the time.
“I have a dopey brother who did this,” Scianablo told The Post on Sunday.
“My brother took my computer and posted it [the animal porn],” added the candidate, who was 31 at the time of the posting.
He slammed Ferretti and the GOP for its “desperate” mud-slinging in its bid for control of the town of nearly 800,000 residents.
“This is nothing but a smear,” Scianablo said. “My record speaks for itself.”
His campaign, in full damage-control mode, then provided a statement it says is from Jason fessing up to the prank.
“In 2008, I made a stupid, juvenile post on my brother’s Facebook as a joke,” said the campaign statement attributed to Jason. “My brother had returned from serving in combat as a US Marine in Iraq. For months, our family lived with the fear that we might lose him. When he came home, the relief was overwhelming, and I slipped back into being the kid brother who teased him instead of the man who should have been thanking him.
“My brother served four years as an NYPD officer, and he would later be seriously injured in the line of duty protecting victims of domestic violence. He has put his life on the line more times than I can count, for his fellow Marines, for the people of New York, and for complete strangers in danger. He has served with honor, courage, and commitment, and earned every role he has ever held through sacrifice and service.”
Ferretti has meanwhile promoted his animal-rights record as a Nassau County legislator. He authored legislation that bans convicted animal abusers from owning pets and increased penalties for leaving animals in hot or freezing cars, while also cracking down on animal hoarders.
He sponsored another bill requiring owners of dogs deemed dangerous to notify neighbors within a 1,000-foot radius and to register those animals in a public safety database.
“This election is about who we can trust to do what’s right. And clearly, Joe Scianablo is not that person,” Ferretti said.
The race was already mired in controversy.
Ferretti replaced Don Clavin, the three-term GOP town supervisor who stepped down before his term expired at year’s end.
Scianablo and other Democrats cried foul, saying it was a GOP power play to give Ferretti a leg up with the power of incumbency in the general election this fall.
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