Multiple workers charged with physically abusing 26 children at Pennsylvania charter school

Officials filed charges against 20 people who are accused of either physically abusing or failing to report the abuse of 26 children at a Pennsylvania charter school.

“This case is every parents’ nightmare. We send our children to school expecting the adults will keep them safe, not abuse them physically and emotionally,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. “Our investigation showed some staffers physically abusing children while others sat passively and watched. All the adults charged are equally guilty in failing to protect these children, some as young as 5 years old.”

The investigation began in January 2025 when two parents of students at the Chester Community Charter School – West Campus on 2730 Bethel Road in Chester, Pennsylvania, reported that their children were afraid to attend the school because they feared being placed in “holds” by staff members.

Chester Township Police later determined that nine workers restrained and punished the students by pinching them on pressure points near their necks, holding them in restraints and threatening them with what the students called “shoulder work.” The “shoulder work” involved pinching the students on pressure points near their necks, placing them in holds with their arms crossed in front of them and placing a knee to their back until the student was brought to the ground, investigators said.

Much of the abuse was captured on surveillance video that was later obtained by investigators, according to officials.

Police said several of the people who abused the children were not employees at the school but rather worked for a third-party company called Peak Performers Staffing, LLC. Despite the company’s founders claiming their staff members were trained in Safety-Care techniques, investigators later learned none of the employees had up to date required training, according to officials.

The school’s principal also told investigators that any “safety hold” used had to be reported, in accordance with Pennsylvania state guidelines. The principal said no safety holds were reported by the school in 2024 when much of the alleged abuse took place.

The following nine people were charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, simple assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child and failure to report endangering the welfare of a child in connection to the investigation:

• Raymond Harris
• Kabree Daniels
• Christian Denny
• Martin Mincey, Jr.
• Harry Woodhouse, Jr
• Amaru Mohammed
• Leroy Campbell
• Adrian Hospedale
• Monica Griffin

The following 11 people were charged with failure to report the endangering of the welfare of a child:

• Daemon Pierce
• Don’Neisah King Pierce
• Arijah Clements
• Cyrus Barlee
• Neanne Edmonds
• Breshonna Belgrave
• Deja Bennett-Allen
• Ryan Ridley
• Maggie Moloney
• Dahkeem Williams
• Asia Pena

Many of the suspects are not yet in custody but have made arrangements to surrender, investigators said on Monday, March 31, 2025.

Of the 20 suspects, online court records only show attorneys listed for Dahkeem Williams, Maggie Moloney and Ryan Ridley.

Art Donato, who represents Williams and Ridley, told NBC10 his clients are presumed innocent. Moloney's attorney also sent a statement to NBC10.

“We take great exception to the District Attorney’s statement that ‘all the adults charged are equally guilty in failing to protect these children,'" the attorney said. "Maggie Moloney is factual innocent of these charges and, as the District Attorney knows, is presumed innocent of these charges. Maggie is a 27-year-old teacher, with a history of reporting incidents to Childline. We are eager to defend Maggie in court and show the community that she was wrongfully caught in an unreasonably wide net thrown by law enforcement.”

Chester Community Charter School also released the following statement:

CCCS has recently learned that several individuals, employees of a certified outside contractor formerly associated with the school, are being charged by local authorities for using disciplinary methods which are strictly prohibited by the school. The contractor is Peak Performers. As soon as school administrators learned that there was any possible violation of approved methods, it took swift and decisive action to terminate the contractor. CCCS employees who are alleged to have carried out such practices were also promptly terminated at that time, and any employees who might have had knowledge of the situation were placed on leave, pending further investigation. CCCS has been completely cooperative with local authorities.

It is important to note that families of all affected students were promptly notified as soon as the school became aware of the allegations, and those families have all chosen to keep their students enrolled at CCCS because of the school’s deep commitment to their education and wellbeing. No student is at risk and our entire CCCS community is committed to ensuring only the best practices to maintain a positive climate.

We also recently learned that three employees are being charged as part of this investigation for failing to report alleged misconduct. They have been suspended pending further investigation.

The health and safety of our students is always our top priority and that is why we acted quickly to ensure that students would not be further subjected to any unauthorized disciplinary methods. It is also important to know that CCCS requires that every employee who has direct contact with children complete mandated reporter training.

CCCS will continue to cooperate with any inquiry by local officials.

NBC10 also reached out to Peak Performers Staffing for comment. We will provide a statement from them once we receive one.

You can read the full criminal complaint below: