Cop charged with rape

APHILADELPHIA POLICE officer was charged with statutory rape yesterday after allegedly having sex with a teenage girl for a year and a half.

Officer Thomas Gitto, 40, was arrested after investigators concluded a 15-month investigation into the girl's allegations.

He was suspended yesterday with intent to dismiss, cops said.

"It is always unfortunate when we have to arrest one of our own," said Chief Inspector William Colarulo of Internal Affairs during a news conference announcing Gitto's arrest. But this is "behavior that we will not, and cannot, tolerate."

Gitto, a 13-year veteran of the force, was assigned to Narcotics Field Unit 2 when the teen reported the sex to police in November 2005.

The girl said the sex had begun in 2004 - her freshman year in high school - after she had met Gitto through a family member, Colarulo said.

They allegedly engaged in sex at his home and inside a police trailer, Colarulo said.

She told police that Gitto also communicated with her on the phone and through the computer. Investigators then searched Gitto's phone and computer records, which validated the girl's claim, Colarulo said.

So far, police have linked Gitto to at least three sexual trysts with the girl, Colarulo said.

Regardless of whether their relationship was consensual, it is still a "a 36-year-old man taking advantage of a 14-year-old girl," Colarulo said. *