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A Pennsylvania judge Friday abruptly ordered all children at a county juvenile detention center transferred to another facility after receiving a startling letter detailing horrific physical, psychological, and sexual abuse at the facility. Delaware County Public Defender Christopher Welsh sent the letter to the county on Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer said, and it contains affidavits from former and current staff and descriptions of pest infestations, times in winter without heat, and deficient meals. In one of the most egregious claims, a staff member at the Delaware County Juvenile Dete...

All children housed at the Delaware County Juvenile Justice Center were ordered transferred immediately after allegations of physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

Judge empties Delaware County Juvenile Justice Center following allegations of rampant abuse Samantha Melamed, The Philadelphia Inquirer © CHARLES FOX/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS The Delaware County Courthouse in Media, Pa, is seen in a file photograph. “Do you really think a judge is going to believe a bunch of juvenile delinquents over a corrections officer?” That’s what one staff member allegedly told youth at the Delaware County Juvenile Justice Center, which was being abruptly emptied over the weekend after the county’s public defender sent a letter warning t...

John P. Gonzales | Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin PHILADELPHIA – A Delaware County attorney of more than 40 years who returned to his duties as a public defender after suffering a stroke, says he was fired from his role this year due to his age and disability. Leigh B. Bechtle first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Nov. 19 versus Delaware County, of Media. Born in 1949 and after a successful tour of duty in the U.S. Navy, Bechtle said he graduated cum laude from Ohio University and earned his law degree ...

PHILADELPHIA — A former Delaware County public defender claims in a federal lawsuit that he was fired from his position in the office earlier this year due to his age and disabilities associated with a stroke he suffered several years ago. Leigh J. Bechtle, 71, is alleging claims for violations of the Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, for which he is seeking compensatory and related damages. According to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last month, Bechtle graduated cum...