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Wyoming Area defends handling of threat, lockdown; juvenile suspect charged

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Wilkes-Barre tax revenue higher through February compared to 2017

Despite her confidence, the cuffs of the young woman&#8217;s slacks dragged on the floor as she walked quickly to the witness stand. Nervously chewing gum, she wore blond hair pulled back into a long ponytail, her fingernails red, matching the frames of her large eyeglasses. A small dark tattoo graced the top of her wrist.&#8220;We had sex,&#8221; the alleged victim testified Tuesday during a preliminary hearing at the Lackawanna County Courthouse.Nondescript in a brown and gray buzz cut and a base blue suit, bowing his clean-shaven face to the defense table as if in prayer, defendant and former Lackawanna County prison guard Jeffrey Staff stared in silence.&#8220;Did he put his penis in your vagina,&#8221; asked Senior Deputy Attorney General Simquita Bridges.&#8220;Yes,&#8221; the witness said.Simple and stark, that blunt characterization of human behavior shapes the core of the case against Staff, who worked for 17 years as a county prison guard. He now stands accused of exploiting a young woman and disgracing his commitment to uphold the public trust. A magistrate ruled that enough evidence exists to send the charge against Staff, 42, of Wyoming, to trial on one count of institutional sexual assault, a felony. If convicted, Staff could face state prison time.Police have filed criminal charges against seven former male Lackawanna County prison guards after a state grand jury heard testimony from numerous former women inmates about sexual assault and abuse.On Tuesday, the young woman testified as the only witness at Staff&#8217;s preliminary hearing.Seated, docile and expressionless during her testimony except for once or twice conferring with his lawyer, Staff choose not to take the stand in his own defense, unwilling to contest or challenge any of what his alleged victim said under oath.The meeting for sex was &#8220;his idea,&#8221; Staff&#8217;s alleged victim said.When Staff first Facebook messaged her he just wanted to say, &#8220;Hi,&#8221; she testified. Staff said, &#8220;that I looked pretty with my hair straight&#8221; and that they should talk.&#8220;How did that make you feel?&#8221; asked Staff&#8217;s lawyer Corey Kolcharno.The judge agreed with the prosecutor&#8217;s objection.Police and prosecutors vehemently disagree that this arrangement constituted a consensual date of any kind. Police and prosecutors see this plan as blatant abuse &#8212; control and dominance by the powerful against the powerless, a gross violation of Pennsylvania criminal law of the highest order.&#8220;You engaged in conversation with him,&#8221; the defense lawyer said.&#8220;Yes,&#8221; she said.Prison personnel the woman identified as &#8220;white shirts&#8221; and &#8220;gray shirts&#8221; somehow found out about communication between the two. The witness said she and Staff exchanged Facebook messages, texted and spoke on the phone. She testified she had access to a cellphone despite being an inmate and just had to check her phone at a locker in the prison. Prison officials also allowed her to maintain a Facebook page, she said.&#8220;They pretty much knew about it,&#8221; she said of prison supervisors who discovered their contact. &#8220;They knew.&#8221;When she returned to the prison from a short furlough at her grandmother&#8217;s she said guards handcuffed her and took her into an administrative office. Another guard &#8211; a woman this time &#8211; warned her she would lose work release status if she was not where she was supposed to be. The guard also told her she would ruin Staff&#8217;s career if this behavior continued, she testified.That recollection shapes the core of the continuing criminal investigation into public corruption.If what this vulnerable young woman said under oath is true, public officials covered up the vile behavior of one of their own. Alleged cover-up by higher-ups is a crucial part of what state Attorney General Josh Shapiro has called a pervasive culture of sexual abuse at the Lackawanna County Prison.Women who claim they were sexually assaulted and abused, some of whom have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against numerous defendants, including former and current public officials, were not free women looking for dates and relationships. They were desperate prison inmates behind bars, captive county prisoners subject to savage abuse of power by barbarians &#8212; sex slaves to be used and abused in and out of prison.&#8220;This man&#8217;s career is on the line,&#8221; Kolcharno said of his client. &#8220;His life is on the line.&#8221;That&#8217;s why Staff is going to court.That&#8217;s why the investigation must continue.That&#8217;s why justice must be served.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>Steve CorbettGuest Columnist</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Steve Corbett is a longtime journalist. He previously wrote a column the Times Leader and hosted a radio show inNortheastern Pennsylvania.</shirttailMeta></div>

Their view: Search for justice vital in prison-sex case