HARRISBURG – One year after the death of a 12 year-old boy from an alleged long-standing pattern of child abuse, the chain of events which led to that event has become the crux of a wrongful death lawsuit now housed in a Pennsylvania federal court.
Sara Coon (as Administratrix of the Estate of Maxwell Schollenberger and in her own right) of Philadelphia first filed suit in the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas on Aug. 25 versus Lebanon County, Erin M. Moyer, Kimberly Maurer and Scott Schollenberger Jr., all of Lebanon.)
(The case was later removed to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 28.)
Defendants Scott Schollenberger Jr. and Maurer (engaged to one another) are facing homicide, conspiracy and child endangerment charges for the death of Maxwell Schollenberger, who was found dead in at the couple’s home in Annville in May of last year.
Scott had legal custody of his son at the time of his death, and Lebanon County authorities contend that the boy suffered years of systematic abuse at the hands of his father and prospective stepmother.
Coon alleges in the lawsuit that her son was “subjected to dehydration and starvation” at the hands of his father and Maurer, a finding echoed by the Lebanon County Coroner, who deduced that dehydration, malnutrition and head trauma was the cause of Maxwell Schollenberger’s death.
The coroner added Maxwell weighed just 47 and a half pounds, only half the weight of a healthy 12-year-old boy.
The suit says Maxwell’s paternal grandmother, Lorie Schollenberger found evidence that Maurer was beating Maxwell during his toilet training in 2010, detailing that Maurer allegedly told Lorie that she was “correcting” Maxwell for defecating in his pants by striking him with a large metal serving spoon and isolating him.
In 2011, the suit adds Lorie went to the home and found Maxwell standing facing a corner without any pants, and both his bare legs and buttocks were scored with cuts and abrasions.
When Lorie and the boy’s grandfather, Scott Schollenberger Sr., confronted their son and Maurer about the boy’s injuries, they were allegedly told “that this would be the last time they would see their grandson.”
According to Coon, Schollenberger and Maurer then moved to Lebanon, without telling the boy’s grandparents. Lorie called the county’s children’s services three times in 2015 to report possible child abuse, but the suit maintains that each time, she was denied learning further information.
Lebanon County law enforcement authorities claim that nothing was apparent to suggest that any abuse was happening and therefore, they had no reason to investigate. Police only began to investigate after Maurer shared news of Maxwell’s death with a neighbor.
Yet, Lebanon County’s District Attorney Piers Hess Graf shared that Maxwell was kept in a dark room with the door locked from the outside, did not receive medical care or an education.
Coon claims that Lebanon County Children & Youth Services may have been able to save her son if it had investigated the child abuse reports made by Maxwell’s grandparents.
For counts of survival, wrongful death, procedural due process violations of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 and violations of the Pennsylvania Constitution via municipal liability and supervisor liability, endangering the welfare of children, civil conspiracy, the plaintiff is seeking, jointly and severally, compensatory and exemplary damages, pre-judgment delay damages, interest and further relief as this Court may deem appropriate.
The plaintiff is represented by Joseph Auddino and Steven F. Marino of Marino Associates, in Philadelphia.
The defendants are represented by Andrew W. Norfleet and Frank J. Lavery Jr. of Lavery Law, in Harrisburg.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case 1:21-cv-01674
Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas case 2021-01035
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com