Wyandanch Public Library custodian suspended with pay after rape arrest
A longtime Wyandanch Public Library custodian was suspended with pay Thursday following his arrest last week for a 2016 rape allegation that he has denied. Credit: Tom Lambui
The Wyandanch Public Library's board suspended a longtime custodian with pay Thursday following his arrest last week for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in 2016.
Authorities arrested Kwaisi McCorvey, 51, of Farmingdale, at the library Feb. 2 on felony charges of third-degree rape and third-degree criminal sexual act, according to a Suffolk County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman.
He pleaded not guilty at a court arraignment the next day.
His Melville attorney, Gregory Kalmar, told Newsday on Friday his client "denies all allegations," but declined to comment further.
A felony complaint states that the alleged incident took place on Oct. 24, 2016, in North Amityville. Suffolk County police made McCorvey's arrest based on a sworn statement the victim gave on Dec. 20, 2021, according to the court record.
On Thursday night, the library board voted 3-0 to suspend McCorvey “until further notice” with pay and banned him from library property.
Library attorney Shawn Cullinane told Newsday on Friday the board “believes obviously this is a very serious matter." He added board members “felt it was in the best interest of the library" to have McCorvey "removed from the premises while this is being adjudicated.”
McCorvey is the nephew of former longtime library board trustee Nancy Holliday, who is now the Wyandanch school board's vice president. He has worked in his position at the library since 2007 and is paid $65,494 a year.
McCorvey's library employment was part of a prior controversy in 2014, when a state comptroller's office audit found the board didn't provide oversight adequate to prevent "fraud, waste and abuse," Newsday previously reported.
The audit criticized then-board president Holliday for changing time clock records 109 times for McCorvey, sometimes creating entries for days when he did not clock in or out.
The audit questioned $19,534 in pay for 83 workdays, including when McCorvey was paid for 21.5 hours for one day. No criminal charges resulted from the audit.
Payroll records from the library and Suffolk County's Civil Service Commission show McCorvey as consistently being the highest-paid employee at the library because of overtime. In 2017, McCorvey's earnings were $128,240.
His next court appearance is scheduled for March 9.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
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