The wife of Pittston Area School District Superintendent Kevin Booth alleges he repeatedly emotionally abused her and cheated on her “off and on” for more than two decades, according to a court document.
Another court document shows Booth is undergoing unspecified treatment.
In her application for a protection from abuse order, Jessica Booth, 49, also provides more details of the choking incident that led to her husband’s arrest more than a week ago.
Jessica Booth wrote that she feels “unsafe and uncomfortable” remaining in their Pittston home and would stay with family members.
“It is a very toxic environment and relationship right now, and I just want to know I’m safe,” she wrote.
Pittston police charged Kevin Booth with simple assault and harassment in an Oct. 5 attack on his wife.
Booth treatment not public
He is undergoing “inpatient treatment” for at least 30 days, his lawyer said in a separate court document.
Attorney Kurt T. Lynott revealed his client’s treatment but didn’t disclose its nature in an Oct. 9 request to postpone a Luzerne County Court hearing on Jessica Booth’s PFA.
The hearing was scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed until Nov. 20. His preliminary hearing on the criminal charges, originally scheduled for next Tuesday, has been postponed to Nov. 18.
A magisterial district judge had released Kevin Booth on $2,500 unsecured bail.
'Kinda tossed me around'
Jessica Booth told police her husband "kinda tossed me around a bit" and choked her, according to the arrest affidavit filed against him.
Her PFA application offers more detail in her own words.
She wrote that her husband of 24 years took her cell phone and went out all day Oct. 5 before arriving home “visibly intoxicated” about 8 p.m.
“I needed my phone for work, and he still refused to give me my phone,” she wrote. “We have been having marital issues for the past few months with no resolution (because of) ... defendant’s (infidelity) issues for the past 24 years off and on.”
The couple’s 24-year-old son tried to “defuse the situation” but failed, she wrote.
'He began choking me'
“He (her husband) then came into my office because I grabbed my phone from his pocket and he then tried to grab it back very forcefully with my son in between us trying to stop him,” she wrote. “Unsuccessful again.”
Her husband took the phone and hid it under a mattress “as he proceeded to verbally abuse me,” she wrote. “I tried to get my phone under the mattress and he grabbed me and I fell into my closet as he began choking me. I tried getting him off of me, but I just wasn’t strong enough.”
Her husband finally loosened his grip enough so she could escape.
“Our son came in the room because ... I was hysterically crying in fear, and he told my son I was fine, that I was just being dramatic,” Jessica Booth wrote.
A 'red and swollen' neck
When he saw his mother’s neck “red and swollen,” the son “began to cry,” she wrote. “At that point, I went into my office and called the police.”
A police officer observed redness on both sides of Jessica Booth's neck, and asked to see the bedroom. Kevin Booth was lying in bed when they entered.
"When asked what had happened, Kevin states 'no idea,' and when asked if anything physical took place he states, 'not that I'm aware of,'" according to the affidavit.
She couldn't breathe
Jessica Booth told police she couldn't breathe for a second and tried to kick her husband after he brought her to the ground, according to the affidavit.
Police said Kevin Booth claimed his wife took his iPad and other items. Asked again if anything physical took place, he replied "not really," denied hitting or choking his wife, and said the couple had "marital issues," the affidavit says.
Police took him into custody and charged him.
In her PFA application, Jessica Booth said she planned to find a divorce lawyer.
School district officials have declined to comment on Booth’s behavior or discuss any discipline taken against him.
Booth's district history
Booth has served as superintendent since Jan. 26, 2016, and was acting superintendent for four months before that, according to his contract with the district.
The Pittston Area School Board voted to hire him as superintendent for five years starting Jan. 26, 2016, approved a five-year extension in August 2020 and extended his contract another three years and five months on May 21.
The extension expires June 30, 2029. His current salary was set at $155,346,86 as of July 1.
The contract says the district can suspend Booth without pay if he’s charged with a felony, but neither charge Booth faces is a felony.
The district, if a school board majority vote allows it, may fire Booth for neglect of duty, incompetency, intemperance, immorality or other violations allowing dismissal listed in the state school code, according to the contract.
The other violations allowing dismissal include unsatisfactory performance, cruelty, medically documented physical or mental disability that prevents him from doing the job, advocating “un-American or subversive doctrines,” and persistently violating state school laws or school board policies and directives.
Deputy editor Roger DuPuis contributing reporting to this story.
