Joanne Van Saun, the former director of the Luzerne County, Pa., Children and Youth Services was slapped into handcuffs over an alleged coverup that involved an extensive backlog of child abuse reports in her office, with reports being tossed in the trash instead of investigated. The Attorney General’s office of Pennsylvania released a statement about the arrest.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that the former director of Luzerne County’s Children and Youth Services has been charged for directing employees to falsely terminate reports of child abuse and neglect, putting dozens of children in Luzerne County at risk. She has since resigned from her position.
“Children that reported serious abuse and neglect were let down by Luzerne County because of Ms. Van Saun’s intentional and reckless disregard. These young people turned to teachers, coaches and other mandated reporters, who trusted that Child and Youth Services would do their job – they didn’t,” said AG Shapiro. “My office will continue to do our part in keeping children here in Luzerne County and across the Commonwealth safe, to guarantee that if you call the Pennsylvania ChildLine, your report will be taken seriously. We will prosecute anyone who fails in their responsibilities and knowingly puts our young people at risk.”
Shapiro’s statement further states that over 200 cases of reported abuse were closed without investigations on the order of Van Saun. As a result, police charged Van Saun with a misdemeanor. According to the police documents, “Van Saun told [employees] she wanted the backlog eradicated immediately, and she did not care how they did it.”
🚨 On today’s hero list is @PAAttorneyGen Josh Shapiro for arresting #CPS director Joanne Van Saun for endangering children of PA and putting them in danger by making reports of abuse disappear so she didn’t have to do actual work. #FamilyCourtCorruption PA is really stepping up. pic.twitter.com/YUqP1IUXjB
— Megan Fox (@MeganFoxWriter) July 9, 2021
Some of the allegations of abuse that went uninvestigated were shocking and included witness statements describing the sodomy of a child, children living in unsafe conditions, and one incident where a child grabbed a stranger at a football game and begged him to kidnap him so he would not have to go home. Those reports, along with hundreds of others, went nowhere, thanks to Van Saun’s leadership. – READ MORE
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