Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said Friday he will wait for a state Supreme Court ruling before refiling criminal charges against five current and former county child protection agency employees.
Gallagher said state court rules prevent him from refiling while the employees appeal a lower court ruling to the high court.
Last month, the state Superior Court ruled Gallagher can again charge the employees with failing to report abuse, but not with endangering children.
“Once they make that decision, well, we're then going to proceed with the case,” Gallagher said. “Obviously, if they overturn the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the case is gone.”
Who are the employees?
The five county Office of Youth and Family Services caseworkers are Amy Helcoski, 52, of Scranton, and Erik Krauser, 48, of Dickson City; casework supervisors Sadie Coyne O’Day, 36, of Scranton, and Bryan Walker, 53, of Archbald; and retired caseworker Randy Ramik, 61, of Clarks Green.
On Sept. 11, a three-judge Superior Court panel ruled county President Judge James Gibbons was right in ruling the five were immune from prosecution for endangering the welfare of children.
The panel cited language in the state Child Protective Services Law that specifically grants immunity to child protective workers. However, the panel said immunity only applies to workers doing their jobs, including if they report abuse, but not if they don’t report it.
The Supreme Court appeal
Lawyers for the five asked the Supreme Court to hear their appeal of the Superior Court ruling. The top court has not decided whether to even hear the appeal. Gallagher said he plans to oppose the appeal, but does not plan to challenge the Superior Court’s granting of immunity against the endangerment charges.
"We believe the Superior Court got it right," Gallagher said in a text.
In their appeal, a defense lawyer urges the Supreme Court to hear the case because taking away “absolute criminal immunity” from caseworkers will undermine their ability to assess cases with “good-faith professional judgment.”
“By removing immunity for the core duty of reporting, the Superior Court’s ruling creates an untenable risk” for caseworkers, wrote attorney Curt Parkins, Coyne O’Day’s lawyer, who’s handling the appeal for all five.
Already responding to a report of child abuse or neglect, a caseworker could felony criminal charges for failing to make a second report of abuse, Parkins wrote.
“This threat will inevitably cause caseworkers to unnecessarily report” to protect themselves instead of seeking rehabilitative services for children and parents, he wrote.
State law explicitly grants immunity, but the Superior Court ruling made a “clear” distinction, which requires the Supreme Court to provide “definitive resolution,” Parkins wrote.
How this all started
Former District Attorney Mark Powell charged the five in July 2023 with endangering children and failing to report abuse. Gibbons dismissed the charges in January 2024, also citing the immunity provision in state law.
Helcoski, Krauser, Coyne O’Day and Walker remain on paid administrative leave pending a final resolution of the charges. Their status remains unchanged.
Police alleged the Office of Youth and Family Services staffers allowed eight children to live in deplorable conditions with parents or guardians incapable of properly caring for them. The conditions included insect-infested homes laden with animal feces and the smell of cat urine, ignored reports of physical and sexual abuse, injuries to children and missed medical appointments and school days.
Days before the arrests, state regulators revoked the Office of Youth and Family Services full license and issued a provisional one. The agency regained a full license in December as part of a settlement.
