SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A ruling passed down this morning by the Pennsylvania Superior Court has reopened the door for five Office of Youth and Family Service employees to be prosecuted.
28/22's Connor Coar has an update about this ongoing case.
The Pennsylvania Superior Court has partially upheld and partially overturned a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that dismissed all charges against the five Lackawanna County Office of Family Youth and Service employees.
In June of 2023, five officers in the Lackawanna County's OYFS Department were arrested on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and failure to report or refer.
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Earlier Thursday, the Superior Court upheld that the five caseworkers are immune from prosecution in regard to the felony charges of endangering the welfare of children.
The initial decision was made by Judge James Gibbons in January of 2024 based on quote, "Language contained in the domestic relations code."
However, the new ruling states that they are subject to prosecution on charges of failure to report child abuse.
Lackawanna County Solicitor Don Frederickson said that the ruling is under review at this time by the county.
Since the arrests in 2023, all five workers have been on paid administrative leave relating to this case.
It is now ultimately up to the Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office if they will be pursuing the failure to report charges. We have reached out to their office but have not heard back at this time.
