Man indicted in lead paint cover-up; harm to children alleged
AG says landlord faked certificates
By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Jaroslaw Pianka, 40, of Charlton was indicted by a Worcester County grand jury Friday on charges of child endangerment, larceny by false pretenses and two counts of uttering.
Mr. Pianka, owner of two properties on Dale Court in Leicester, failed to comply with lead laws by submitting fraudulent certificates of lead compliance and representing that his properties were fully de-leaded, the AG’s office said.
The AG’s office said a family with two children under age 6 rented one of his Dale Court properties under “verbal assertion that the property had been de-leaded in Feb. 2007.”
The family subsequently performed a home lead test, which revealed lead in the property, the AG’s office said.
They contacted the town’s board of health to request a lead determination in March 2009. Further inspection revealed several areas that tested positive for lead, and Mr. Pianka was ordered to correct the lead issue.
In April 2009, Mr. Pianka gave the family a copy of a letter of full de-leading compliance.
The AG’s office said he also gave the family a copy of the Massachusetts Tenant Lead Law Notification and Certification Form, which is required by law to be provided by landlords to tenants before renting them properties built before 1978, and he gave a letter of full de-leading compliance to the Board of Health.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Child Lead Poisoning Prevention Program determined the documentation to be fraudulent, the AG’s office said.
Mr. Pianka was also cited in connection with a second property on Dale Court after the health board learned of additional alleged violations.
In March 2009, the board ordered Mr. Pianka to correct lead in the second property.
In response to the order, Mr. Pianka submitted a letter of full de-leading compliance.
Further investigation of the letter with the Licensed Lead Inspector Database of the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services determined that neither the name of the inspector nor the license number of the inspector listed on the letter existed, the AG’s office said.
Mr. Pianka will be arraigned in Worcester Superior Court.
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