Greene CYS under scrutiny
Foster mother Joelle Barozzini was arraigned Wednesday afternoon by District Judge James Albert.
A former Greene County Children and Youth Services caseworker who informed her supervisors she suspected a foster mother in Greensburg was having sex with a teenage boy in her care was reprimanded for “gossiping” and disciplined over the claim, according to court documents.
That caseworker, Dusty Bedillion, told Pressley Ridge Foster Care in February 2012 she was concerned Joelle Barozzini was involved in a sexual relationship with the 16-year-old boy from Greene County.
Bedillion was later reprimanded by her supervisor at the time, former Greene County CYS Director Dee Dee Blosnich-Gooden, who called it an “inappropriate comment” about Barozzini and required the caseworker to take ethics training, court documents allege.
Barozzini was charged Tuesday by Greensburg police with felony counts of rape, institutional sex assault, corruption of minors and child endangerment. Police said Barozzini, 46, of Greensburg, raped the boy “hundreds of times” beginning when he was 16 years old, from 2009 until he left her care in 2013.
She was arraigned Wednesday afternoon by District Judge James Albert and released on $50,000 unsecured bond.
Blosnich-Gooden resigned from her position as CYS director in Greene County in March 2013 to take a job as deputy director of Washington County CYS. That was two months before the boy left Barozzini’s home as she threw a “tantrum” while Greene CYS workers watched, police wrote in court documents.
Police said Bedillion originally raised her concerns Feb. 17, 2012, to Pressley Ridge Director Marnie Williams about Barozzini’s relationship with the boy after hearing from a family member. Barozzini had worked at Pressley Ridge since 2006 as a supervisor for the foster child agency. Williams contacted Greene County CYS, and Blosnich-Gooden issued the written reprimand Feb. 27, 2012, police said.
“(The written reprimand) stated that Bedillion had no facts to support the allegation, only hearsay from a family member,” police wrote in court documents.
After Bedillion raised her concerns, Blosnich-Gooden emailed Greene County Human Services Director Karen Bennett, informing her that Williams did not plan to notify the ChildLine phone service that allows for anonymous tips about child abuse, police said. Blosnich-Gooden emailed Bennett again Sept. 11, 2012, stating that Barozzini had asked the county for a full retraction of Bedillion’s allegations.
Police said children continued to be placed in Barozzini’s home afterward, although it was not known how many.
It wasn’t until last November that a state trooper spoke to the alleged victim, now 24, reported the case to ChildLine services and initiated the investigation.
Greensburg police Detective John Swank, who filed the charges, said the investigation is ongoing and expected to expand to involve other police agencies.
Representatives from Washington County CYS and county human services director Tim Kimmel did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday. CYS Director Kim Rogers and Blosnich-Gooden were unavailable when a reporter went to the office.
Washington County Commission Chairman Larry Maggi was not familiar with the situation but said officials plan to review the case.
Meanwhile, Bennett wrote in an email that “this is an ongoing investigation, and we are cooperating with the investigative officials.”
Greene County Commissioner Blair Zimmerman also said he was unaware of the situation until contacted Wednesday by reporters, but he said the county agencies had cooperated with law enforcement during the investigation.
He expected the county to perform an internal investigation into the handling of the situation by its CYS workers.
“We want to get to the bottom of it, just like everybody else,” Zimmerman said. “It will be dealt with appropriately.”
Police said Barozzini first made sexual advances to the boy during a party she was hosting at her house for her daughter’s friends. Police said she raped him later that night in her bedroom while her husband supervised the party downstairs. Police said the husband told them he was unaware of the relationship, and the couple has since divorced.
The two also reportedly went on trips, including several times when they stayed in a hotel room together while the boy visited his father at a state prison in central Pennsylvania.
Barozzini also was possessive of the boy, police said, not allowing him to date in high school and even creating a false Facebook page that the boy could claim was his girlfriend’s. Greene County CYS workers told police she “routinely made it difficult” for them to speak to the boy while he was in her care.
When he moved out in May 2013, Barozzini threw herself onto her bed and created a scene while he packed his belongings, police said, and one of the Greene County CYS caseworkers reportedly received a message from Barozzini claiming that they “ruined my life.” That caseworker also told police that “something always seemed odd about the relationship” between the two.
Barozzini unsuccessfully attempted to contact him for the next two years, police said.
According to court documents, the boy was under Greene CYS care until October 2010, when the contract ended, and then was placed in the custody of Barozzini until he turned 18. He later was placed in an independent living program with Greene County.