The verbal gymnastics retired Pennsylvania Family Court Judge Doris A. Pechkurow put forth as a defense for a fellow jurist whose flawed judgment cost a child her life are distressing yet understandable. Colleagues in court, and all that.
Judge Pechkurow can run cover for Bucks County Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger from now until forever. In my view and those of legions of others, his incomprehensible decision to allow mentally unstable Jeffrey Mancuso, who was raised in Medford, New Jersey, unsupervised custody of his 7-year-old daughter, Kayden, without mandating — mandating — mental health treatment as recommended by a custody evaluator psychiatrist is criminal.