Pa. youth treatment facility staffer assaulted by runaways: police

Pennsylvania State Police were called Monday to track down multiple runaways from a residential youth treatment facility in Lehigh County.

State police in Bethlehem responded shortly before 5 p.m. to the Marconi House at KidsPeace in North Whitehall. All the runaway youths were returned to the site, state police said.

A 23-year-old Allentown woman who works there was assaulted by an 18-year-old KidsPeace client, state police said.

Nathan Branosky, public information officer for the Troop M barracks, told lehighvalleylive.com a chair was used in the attack.

The teen was arrested. The staff member's condition was not immediately available Wednesday.

Robert Martin, director of communications at KidsPeace, also couldn't immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Martin previously told lehighvalleylive.com the organization cannot comment on specific situations involving individuals in its treatment programs, citing privacy regulations.

KidsPeace is a private charity dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families and communities, according to its website.

It has a history of dealing with runaway youths, including a three-day span of dispatch calls in fall 2019 that led to troopers rounding up at least 13 runaways. Troopers in September 2023 also responded numerous times in a span of two days to find runaways. A trooper was bit by a KidsPeace client in one of the 2023 incidents, state police had said