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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Luzerne County Children and Youth Services can keep private the records of a dead toddler and his surviving siblings in a federal lawsuit filed by the boy&#8217;s parents, according to a judge&#8217;s ruling issued Thursday.</p><p>Anthony Puscavage died in January 2015 of head trauma two months after the 21-month-old and his brother were placed under the custody of their maternal grandmother, Brenda Wilkes, and her husband, Kenneth Wilkes, by way of a court order filed by Children and Youth.</p><p>Children and Youth officials said the agency had dealt with the boy&#8217;s parents, Wilkes-Barre residents Nichole Puscavage and Anthony Cook, for years stemming from complaints that ranged from neglect to overcrowding and excess partying at their home.</p><p>Following Puscavage&#8217;s death, questions emerged over who was responsible.</p><p>One state report, penned by the Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth and Families, concluded Puscavage died as a result of physical abuse and determined Brenda Wilkes, who also had custody of Nichole Puscavage&#8217;s three other children, was the &#8220;perpetrator.&#8221;</p><p><a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/487680/luzerne-county-children-and-youth-license-downgraded" target="_blank">The toddler&#8217;s death was ruled accidental, but led to the downgrading of Children and Youth&#8217;s license to provisional status last fall</a>, with the state citing &#8220;serious concerns&#8221; and &#8220;regulatory violations&#8221; discovered through inspections.</p><p>&#8220;An autopsy was performed, and the final manner of death was ruled an accident,&#8221; Luzerne County Coroner Bill Lisman said in October. &#8220;As far as the coroner &#8217;s office is aware, the case is closed.&#8221;</p><p>No charges have been filed in the death.</p><p>The boy&#8217;s parents <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/502424/parents-sue-luzerne-county-and-children-and-youth-over-toddlers-death" target="_blank">allege in a lawsuit filed in January</a> that Children and Youth &#8220;failed to obtain background clearances for Brenda Wilkes or members of her household&#8221; before placing the children in their home.</p><p>The agency sought a confidentiality order May 20, saying it was trying to protect Nichole Puscavage&#8217;s four other children &#8212; who have all come under Children and Youth&#8217;s care &#8212; from &#8220;having their behavioral and mental and physical health information publicly disseminated,&#8221; according to court records.</p><p>&#8220;The Puscavage children have the right to be free from the invasion into their home life by the public,&#8221; Children and Youth officials argued in the motion. &#8220;It would be tremendously unfair to these minors to reveal to the public all the family problems each of these children have faced and continue to face.&#8221;</p><p>Children and Youth officials maintained in court documents they sought the order not to &#8220;protect its own privacy interests, but that of the four surviving minor children.&#8221;</p><p>The parents&#8217; response, filed by Wilkes-Barre attorney Jonathan S. Comitz, argues Children and Youth&#8217;s order is made on behalf of children it no longer has ties to. He further contended whether the information, if publicized, would harm the children in the future.</p><p>&#8220;(Children and Youth) appears to believe that there are &#8216;endless possibilities of ridicule and embarrassment into the future by peers, their community, the press, future co-workers and the general public.&#8217; It is a stretch to assume that years into the future these children&#8217;s co-workers will inquire about discovery in a case from the past,&#8221; he argues.</p><p>U.S. District Judge Richard A. Conaboy wrote in a memorandum that he sided with the defendants&#8217; argument.</p><p>&#8220;Plaintiffs do not articulate a single specific reason why it is important to disclose to the public the information the defendant seeks to keep confidential,&#8221; Conaboy wrote. &#8220;Rather, plaintiffs argue in generalities.&#8221;</p><p>The judge added: &#8220;Whether this may be true isn&#8217;t the court&#8217;s concern here. The court&#8217;s concern is the interests of the minor children. A specific order that certain information be kept confidential is the best way to protect those interests.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Judge says Children and Youth doesn’t have to release records in lawsuit