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Detention facility closed amid scandal

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — State and county officials have confirmed the voluntary closure of a for-profit juvenile detention center in northeastern Pennsylvania to which prosecutors said juvenile offenders were improperly sent in a kickback scheme that led to the imprisonment of two judges.

The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice reported that the 60-bed PA Child Care in Pittston shuttered in mid-November, just a month after having been licensed by the state Department of Human Services to operate for another year.

“They closed voluntarily, so I don’t think it’s our place to discuss their business decisions,” Ali Fogarty of the Department of Human Services told the paper in an email. The Luzerne County center didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.

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