Scranton police seized hard drive from Office of Youth and Family Services amid child endangerment probe

Dec. 1—One week after Scranton police found a woman dead in a Pine Brook apartment, investigators seized a hard drive from the Lackawanna County Office of Youth and Family Services in a search for records tied to the care of her three juvenile children, according to a search warrant.

The warrant, filed last month, sought a log of complaints the agency received from outside sources as well as electronic communications among caseworkers assigned to the children of Roseanna Chalus-Glover. The paperwork, which was filed by Detective Jennifer Gerrity, indicated the police are investigating potential violations of the state's child endangerment statute.

Detective Lt. Robert Brenzel said no charges have been filed. The investigation remains ongoing. County solicitor Frank Ruggiero said the county will cooperate and praised the caseworkers and employees at the OYFS.

"The folks that work over at that office and that office itself are some of the most mission-focused," Ruggiero said.

Attempts to reach William Browning, executive director of the county Department of Health and Human Services, were unsuccessful. Messages left with District Attorney Mark Powell, whose office approved the search warrant application, were not returned.

The search warrant stems from an emergency call Oct. 26 for a woman unresponsive at 849 Capouse Ave., a multi-apartment building county assessment records show is owned by city landlord Robert "Bert" Sherman. An "overwhelming horrific odor" of garbage and feces struck the officers as they stepped through the door, according to court paperwork.

Chalus-Glover, 45, was found dead in a bedroom. An investigation of her death is pending the result of toxicological testing, Coroner Tim Rowland said. Her adult daughter, Vanessa Chalus-Glover, told officers her mother had been ill and refused medical treatment.

Three of the deceased's juvenile children — whose ages are 9, 10 and 13 — lived in the apartment, which police found was littered with human waste, garbage, spoiled food and signs of insect activity. Housing inspectors condemned the residence. A condemnation notice remained pinned Wednesday to the door of their second floor apartment. Other apartments in the building appeared occupied.

The children told police they could not recall when they last had a meal, so officers gave them food. One of the juveniles had numerous self-inflicted wounds on her arms and legs.

The children are currently in the foster system, Brenzel said.

Two of the children have never been enrolled in the Scranton School District, Gerrity learned. One child was enrolled this year but has been absent from school since Sept. 9 and for most of the last school year. The child was cited for truancy, police said.

The search warrant identified three caseworkers from OYFS who have worked with the family — Randy Ramik, Emily Byron and Erik Krauser. Their communications, along with those of their supervisors, were sought by police in the Nov. 2 search. None face criminal charges; their employment status was not clear Wednesday.

Ramik, who was hired in August 2021, receives an annual salary of $38,813, according to payroll records. Byron, hired in October 2021, earns $34,761. Krauser was hired in May 2007 and earns $47,645.

Ramik was the most recent caseworker assigned to the family, followed by Byron, police said. Records the police reviewed indicated Krauser was a case worker for one of the children.

Brenzel declined to comment on evidence recovered or if the three have cooperated in the investigation. Contacted Wednesday, Ramik and Byron declined to comment. Attempts to reach Krauser were unsuccessful.

According to an affidavit supporting the warrant, Ramik told investigators he last had contact with the family a few weeks prior to the discovery of Roseanna Chalus-Glover's body. The children "were adamant" with police they never met Ramik, though they also said they sleep all day and may have been in their rooms.

Ramik said he last visited the home Sept. 27, around when he was assigned the case, and noted the house was "messy" but denied it had been strewn with feces. He acknowledged, however, he knew the children were not in school, police said.

Ramik got in contact with his supervisor, Sharon Roginski, and told the police the children would be placed into the custody of a family member. Gerrity told Rogniski they would be compelled to take emergency custody because the family member OYFS identified is the same person one of the children accused of sexual abuse.

Gerrity wrote in the warrant she was told the allegation was unfounded. The child felt nobody believed her but she insisted she told the truth.

The condemnation Oct. 27 is not the first time inspectors deemed the residence unfit for human habitation.

Investigators learned it had been condemned in June and the children were temporarily removed. Reports of a missing child brought police there and they found it "unsanitary and deplorable," according to an affidavit. They found urine, feces, rotten food, flies and bugs. The police made a report with the state's ChildLine reporting system and contacted the OYFS.

Another ChildLine report in February also noted the residence was dirty and that a child overdosed on some sort of medication. Police said the OYFS deemed the case unfounded.

In September 2017, police arrested Chalus-Glover for child endangerment. In that case, police responded to her apartment on Rock Street to assist the Fire Department with a water leak. Inside, they found her children living there amid cigarette butts, old food and feces on the floor.

The children were taken into protective custody by the OYFS. She pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of children in January 2018 and was sentenced in March that year to three to 14 months in jail.

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