PENNSYLVANIA
ABC 27
By Dennis Owens
Published: July 20, 2015
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Joshua Mitchell Markelwitz is serving 12-24 years in state prison for sexually abusing an underage girl while serving as a youth leader at Charlton United Methodist Church in Lower Paxton Township.
The abuse started when the girl was 12 years old and continued for several years.
According to a civil lawsuit filed Monday in Dauphin County court, Markelwitz is not the only guilty party.
“We think there’s been a lack of institutional control,” Harrisburg attorney Benjamin Andreozzi said. “The church had several opportunities to prevent this abuse from happening.”
Andreozzi represents the victim. The lawsuit contends that Markelwitz has a prior felony conviction and served time while in the military and therefore should not have been hired by Charlton in the first place.
The lawsuit also names the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, the church’s governing body.
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