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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Luzerne County Children and Youth Services violated a city mother&#8217;s rights by sharing confidential information about her infant daughter, whose 2013 death was the subject of multiple probes, according to a federal lawsuit leveled last week against the agency and county.</p><p>Seven-month-old Cecelia Nin died in January 2013 after her mother, Kareliz Nin of Orchard Street, brought her to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center complaining the girl had been having seizures, the lawsuit states. The visit came days after Cecelia was brought to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on similar symptoms and released.</p><p>Suspecting abuse, Children and Youth petitioned the court for custody and was permitted to remove Cecelia and two other children from Nin&#8217;s custody.</p><p>Cecelia, meanwhile, was transferred to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where she died Jan. 7, 2013.</p><p>In 2014, Nin was notified that an estate had been opened for her daughter. A medical malpractice lawsuit containing details that weren&#8217;t publicly available was filed the following year by estate attorney David Aikens of Forty Fort, the mother&#8217;s lawsuit alleges.</p><p>Aikens declined to comment on Nin&#8217;s lawsuit Tuesday, citing the pending litigation in the malpractice case. That lawsuit alleges Wilkes-Barre General should have recognized Cecelia&#8217;s injuries on her first visit, and that Nin was either responsible for them or allowed them to happen, Aikens said.</p><p>&#8220;Had Cecelia been identified as a possible victim of child abuse, she would have been taken into protective custody, would not have been discharged home with her mother, and would not have suffered the injuries that resulted in her death on Jan. 7, 2013,&#8221; Aiken wrote in the malpractice lawsuit.</p><p>Cecelia&#8217;s manner of death was ruled a homicide due to blunt force head trauma. Fractures to her ribs and forearms were revealed in the autopsy, though Nin claimed officials didn&#8217;t notify her of such injuries, according to the lawsuit.</p><p>Children and Youth and the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s office opened death investigations, but neither have released findings and no charges have been filed, the lawsuit states.</p><p>District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said Cecelia&#8217;s death remains under investigation. She declined further comment.</p><p>Children and Youth attorney Mark Giannotti of Philadelphia did not immediately return a message seeking comment.</p><p>Nin&#8217;s lawsuit alleges the only way the malpractice lawsuit could have been filed was through information illegally disseminated by Children and Youth who, rather than exercising its duties with transparency and respect, operated with &#8220;contempt, collusion, secrecy and obstruction.&#8221;</p><p>The agency&#8217;s conduct was carried out &#8220;in conscious disregard of the substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing harm to Nin &#8230; entitling (her) to an award of punitive damages,&#8221; the lawsuit states.</p><p>The claim further alleges Nin&#8217;s attempts to have relatives apply for custody were denied in retaliation for bringing complaints against the agency. The applications of one family who applied three times were lost or misplaced, Nin&#8217;s lawsuit noted.</p><p>A notice of litigation was first filed in Luzerne County Court in October by city attorneys Jonathan Comitz and Jeremy Weinstock, and a complaint outlining the allegations followed April 20. The case was moved to federal court May 4.</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>

Suit: Children and Youth shared confidential information about deceased baby