Van Saun

Van Saun

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HARRISBURG — Former Luzerne County Children & Youth director Joanne Van Saun pleaded guilty to child endangerment and obstruction offenses related to failing to investigate hundreds of reports of child abuse and neglect cases and covering up the cases with false reports.

Van Saun pleaded guilty to the single count of endangering the welfare of children and two counts of obstruction before Dauphin County Judge Scott Evans earlier Thursday. A sentencing hearing will be held at a later date.

Van Saun, 58, of Dallas, remains free on $100,000 unsecured bail.

“Joanne Van Saun turned a blind eye toward the abuse and neglect of children, violating the law and her duty to protect our most vulnerable. We will continue to do our part in keeping children in Luzerne County and across the Commonwealth safe, to guarantee that if you call the Pennsylvania ChildLine, your report will be taken seriously, and that we will prosecute anyone who fails in their responsibilities and puts our young people at risk,” stated Attorney General Josh Shapiro in a news release.

Van Saun was investigated by the state Attorney General’s Office and prosecuted in Dauphin County.

Van Saun was charged in July after she directed employees to falsely terminate reports of child abuse and neglect and placing dozens of Luzerne County children at risk for further harm, according to court records.

Investigators determined Van Saun in May 2017 directed employees to terminate at least 217 reports of child abuse and neglect received from the state ChildLine system. These cases were part of a backlog that was initially reported by news media in May 2017.

ChildLine is part of a mandated statewide child protective services program that receives reports and then transmits them to appropriate agencies for investigations.

Luzerne County had 1,388 outstanding referrals, which accounted for 75 percent of the state’s outstanding ChildLine referrals, Shapiro stated when Van Saun was charged.

According to court records, several reports that were terminated by Van Saun without investigating were: A child went to school wearing dirty clothes and begged for food; An oven used to heat a residence that was also littered with dog feces; A mother tossed a lit cigarette out a car window that reentered the vehicle burning a child’s face; A residence with no food, refrigerator and stove, with mice and dog feces.

Instead of taking the proper time to evaluate or investigate each ChildLine referral, Van Saun directed her employees to eradicate the backlog by submitting false computer reports back to ChildLine that the referrals did not merit investigation, known as a ‘screen out.’

Shapiro stated 217 screen outs were submitted in May 2017 by Children & Youth clerical workers who had no legal authority or proper training to make those decisions.