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Police: Wyoming County principal failed to report suspected child abuse

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Pennsylvania State Police charged the Lackawanna Trail High School principal for failing to report a suspected sexual relationship between a teacher and a student.

Police say Mark Murphy, 42, of Clarks Green, was aware of the alleged relationship and instructed others not to report it. Murphy himself also did not report the situation to ChildLine, the Wyoming County District Attorney or the county’s Children and Youth office, according to an affidavit.

Mark Murphy
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Mark Murphy

In January, a Lackawanna Trail parent called State Police and told an officer about the alleged relationship, the court document says. State Police Trooper Thomas Weaver began an investigation.

Weaver learned that several teachers reported the suspected relationship to Murphy, according to the affidavit. They were told that Murphy would investigate the allegation himself and instructed them not to call ChildLine, which is part of a mandated statewide child protective services program. As a principal, Murphy is required to report any instance of abuse.

The affidavit says Murphy yelled at one teacher who planned to report the alleged relationship and said he would ruin the teacher’s life.

Police learned that if an incident is reported, Murphy, who began as principal in 2014, will interview teachers, students and parents and write all the information down in a notebook then store it in his office closet. State Police opened the closet during the investigation and observed dozens of notebooks on a shelf, according to the affidavit.

Officers obtained a search warrant and seized 53 notebooks from Murphy and his computer’s hard drive.

When Weaver asked Murphy to come in for an interview, he told the officer he was going to seek counsel and get back to him.

The investigation by the State Police did not yield any charges against the teacher in the suspected relationship, said Superintendent Matthew Rakauskas. The teacher returned to work in August without incident.

Murphy was placed on administrative leave with pay on Aug. 27 in response to police serving a search warrant for school records related to the allegation, said Rakauskas. After the charges were filed, Murphy, who is still a district employee, is now on an unpaid suspension.

Rakauskas said the district fully cooperated with State Police and the district attorney's office.

Murphy was charged with failing to report a case of suspected child abuse or to refer to the appropriate authorities. He was arraigned on Tuesday and posted bail, which was set at $10,000. His preliminary hearing is Oct. 15 at 11 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge David K. Plummer.

Kat Bolus is the community reporter for the WVIA News Team. She is a former reporter and columnist at The Times-Tribune, a Scrantonian and cat mom.

You can email Kat at katbolus@wvia.org