Robert and Stephanie Duncan, of North Annville Township, both waived their preliminary hearings Thursday morning. They are accused of severely abusing their five adopted children, one of whom nearly died.
Adoptions can be initiated by CYS agencies and by private organizations, according to the statement released by the county commissioners. Both must do exhaustive background checks and obtain court approval. Once an adoption is granted, there is no follow-up required, unless specified by the court. An adoptive family is viewed the same as a biological family.
Foster families care for children placed outside of their biological family and are typically monitored by Children and Youth Services until the child can be returned to the family or adopted, according to the statement.
Prosecutors have filed 20 felony charges against Stephanie Angelette Duncan, 42, and her husband, Robert John Duncan, 44, of the 2700 block of Cedar Run Road.
Neighbors say they reported Lebanon County couple before they were charged with abusing 5 adopted children
FOX43 spoke with next door neighbor Jerry Getz who says he called Children and Youth Services years before the Duncans were formally charged with child abuse. Author: Grace Griffaton (FOX43) Updated: 5:34 PM EST February 5, 2021
LEBANON COUNTY, Pa.
Editor s note: The above video is from Feb. 4.
Jerry Getz says he s glad his neighbors, Stephanie and Robert Duncan, have been charged with child abuse. After they started getting all them kids, you d hear them screaming and hollering, said Getz.
The Lebanon County couple is charged with abusing their five adopted children at the family s home on Cedar Run Road.
Neighbors say they reported couple before they were charged with abusing 5 adopted children
“After they started getting all them kids, you’d hear them screaming and hollering,” said Getz.
The Lebanon County couple is charged with abusing their five adopted children at the family’s home on Cedar Run Road.
“Especially when she’d put them out in the hot sun without water and that was punishment for the little boy, because he s his pants,” said Getz. “In the winter time right now, she’d put him out on the porch, and he’d be out there on the porch screaming for an hour before she let him back in.”
February 4, 2021 5 min read
Various articles clipped from the Lebanon Daily News in the days and weeks following the murder, including the first story reporting the case in the center. (The Lebanon Daily News)
It’s been more than 50 years, but Peggy Reber, a troubled 14-year-old girl murdered in horrific circumstances in her Lebanon city home, still has no justice.
It was in the early morning hours of May 26, 1968, when Mary Reber returned to her home at 770 Maple St. after a weekend trip with friends to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and found her daughter, Margaret Lynn “Peggy” Reber, dead on a bedroom floor. She had been brutally assaulted before her murder, according to police.