Pennsylvania
Entries where the acting authority was Pennsylvania (PA), whatever state or country the events took place in.
Jurisdiction is who acted, not where it happened. Federal conduct inside Pennsylvania is filed under Federal, not here.
2026 Events (1)
Former Bucks County deputy sheriff Ryan Gaffney photographed naked people in custody with personal phone
On January 30, 2026, Ryan Gaffney, then a Bucks County deputy sheriff, covered his body camera and used his personal cellphone to photograph a man who was naked from the waist down and suffering a mental health crisis during a warrant execution in Middletown Township. Gaffney shared the image with female employees in the sheriff's office and sent it to personal contacts. A court-ordered forensic search later uncovered a second incident from December 26, 2024, in which Gaffney photographed a handcuffed man in custody in a hotel room and distributed that image to 12 personal contacts over four dates.
2024 Events (2)
Penn State Health St. Joseph canceled a non-binary patient's scheduled mastectomy citing Catholic doctrine
On July 23, 2024, administrators at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pennsylvania contacted EJ Stiles, a 23-year-old non-binary patient, less than 24 hours before a scheduled double mastectomy to cancel the procedure, telling Stiles it was "not in alignment with directives of the Catholic Church." Penn State Health acquired St. Joseph Medical Center in 2015, converting it from a private Catholic facility into part of a public university hospital system, yet the network continued allowing the hospital to enforce Catholic healthcare directives that barred gender-affirming care. Stiles was forced to wait months before obtaining the same surgery at another Penn State Health facility.
York County PA jail failed to charge inmate's defibrillator vest and ignored chest-pain reports; he died within 48 hours of intake
Todd Sidesinger was booked into York County Prison in Pennsylvania on February 18, 2024 — three days after being discharged from a heart-failure hospitalization during which two cardiac stents were inserted. Staff noted at intake that his prescribed defibrillator vest needed charging but that no charger was available; the vest was never charged during his detention. On February 19, Sidesinger submitted a medical request reporting chest pain; an EKG showing Premature Ventricular Contractions was deemed "normal" and he was given acetaminophen. On February 20 he reported chest pain again and was sent back to his cell; he was found unconscious at approximately 5:25 a.m. and died after hospitalization. His sister filed a wrongful-death suit against PrimeCare Medical, the jail's for-profit medical contractor, York County, and the warden.
2021 Events (1)
Former Frazer Township, Pa. officer Michael McSherry pleaded guilty to stalking estranged wife he tracked with department's license-plate reader
Former Frazer Township, Pennsylvania police officer Michael McSherry was arrested September 28, 2021 and later pleaded guilty to stalking and official oppression for a months-long campaign against his estranged wife, Alexandria Griffith, that included logging into his department's license-plate-reader system at least 85 times between August 28 and September 15, 2021 to track her vehicle and her mother's, a hidden GPS tracker discovered under her car, a nanny camera, and repeated threats. On September 10, 2021, responding officers found McSherry holding a loaded handgun during a domestic incident in which he had thrown the couple's four-year-old son to the ground and threatened self-harm before a brief standoff ended in his arrest; a second arrest on September 28, after search warrants turned up additional phones and tracking devices, brought the stalking and computer-misuse charges. A Westmoreland County judge sentenced McSherry to 11.5 to 23 months in jail plus five years of probation, with several felony counts -- including child pornography and terroristic threats -- dismissed as part of the plea agreement.