tag | child abuse

A new lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania claims its too easy to be labeled a child abuser.

There were nearly 46 hundred substantiated cases of child abuse in Pennsylvania in 2020.

Kimberly Maurer of all charges including child endangerment, involuntary manslaughter and criminal conspiracy in the May 2020 death of 12-year-old Maxwell Schollenberger.

Authorities claim that more than 200 referrals from the state-run ChildLine hotline were improperly ended by clerical workers at her direction in May 2017.

51-year-old Christy Willis of Sunbury proclaimed “I am innocent” while being led out of the Northumberland County courthouse following her conviction on charges of obstruction in child abuse cases, hindering apprehension and making false reports to law enforcement.

Child abuse reports dropped across Pennsylvania last year, raising concerns from child welfare professionals that the COVID-19 pandemic isolated children from the school employees, healthcare providers, and other community members who are legally required to report suspected abuse. Lebanon County, where two high-profile child abuse investigations came to light in the last year, has seen a different trend since the beginning of the school year.

The vote on Wednesday is part of a belt-and-suspenders approach that also includes a potential constitutional amendment. The bill was sent to the state Senate by a vote of 149 to 52.