Annville resident Michelle Gerber said she still gets a disturbing feeling when she drives past the Schollenberger home.
In May, Annville Township Police and members of the Lebanon County Detective Bureau found the body of 12-year-old Maxwell Schollenberger in the second-floor room of the house on South White Oak Street.
Describing the alleged actions of the Schollenberger parents as disgusting, Gerber s morning commute takes her past the home most days. Yet even months later, she can t help but wonder if there was something she could have done to alert authorities to Max s condition. Was there something that I should have been looking out for? Maybe a clear sign that they were abusing this boy? she said. Was there something more I could do?
With two local child abuse cases getting national attention, Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf says residents have wanted to be proactive with the problem. Every child deserves to be safe, she said Thursday. Every little boy and girl deserves to be safe when he or she goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning.
In February, prosecutors filed 20 felony charges against Stephanie Angelette Duncan, 42, and her husband, Robert John Duncan, 44, of the 2700 block of Cedar Run Road.
The Duncans calculated and prolonged abuse included physical punishment, depriving the children of food, water, heat and bathroom privileges, and trying to cover up their crimes, according to prosecutors.