The trial of a former Scranton police officer accused of having inappropriate contact with children at West Scranton High School was delayed by defense motions made late last week, which included a request to dismiss the case.
The trial was originally scheduled to open Monday, but on Sunday the state attorney general’s office informed interested parties that Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse had continued the case because of the last-minute defense motions — which Barrasse dismissed in an order dated Monday.
In the request for dismissal, defense attorneys for Stephen Carroll asked the court to consider a recent Superior Court decision that reversed a conviction in another case. Damien Mancuso’s conviction was reversed because prosecutors failed to specify the date of alleged sexual offenses with reasonable certainty, making it impossible for him to establish an alibi. In 2022, Mancuso, of Dickson City, was convicted of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of a minor.
In response to the defense motions, the attorney general’s office argued that the Carroll case was distinct from Mancuso’s because it involved Carroll’s ongoing grooming of his victims as a school resource officer, making it impossible to identify specific dates.
In addition, prosecutors argued that Carroll never indicated he intended to establish an alibi as part of his defense.
“In fact, there is not practical or realistic possibility of asserting this defense as the allegations in this case include dozens of instances wherein the defendant provided young juvenile males with alcohol as a part of his pattern and plan of grooming,” the attorney general’s office argued in a responding document.
Defense attorneys also argued that a joint trial for multiple offenses against multiple victims would put Carroll at a legal disadvantage.
In their response, prosecutors indicated they would not suggest to the jury or argue during their closing argument that because Carroll committed one act, he must have committed all.
“These are separate crimes with separate victims which the jury will be able to separate and not confuse. The overlap is in the defendant’s actions,” the attorney general’s office argued.
The trial has not yet been rescheduled, according to court records.
Released from house arrest
District Judge Kipp Adcock initially set Carroll’s bail at $500,000 at his preliminary hearing on Dec. 20, 2024.
Carroll remained in Lackawanna County Prison until Feb. 14, 2025, when Adcock modified his bail to unsecured and Carroll was placed on house arrest.
Unsecured bail is a bail amount that does not need to be posted unless a defendant violates a bail condition.
In an order dated Feb. 16, Barrasse released Carroll from house arrest, ordering him to continue to participate in pretrial services.
He remains free on unsecured bail.
The case history
Carroll, 50, of 2902 Frink St., is accused of crimes that occurred from 2009 to 2017, and included sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old, sending graphic text messages, engaging in oral sex and attempting anal sex with the victims.
His alleged victims included four male West Scranton High School students, as well as a fifth juvenile whom he met while responding to the boy’s residence for a family’s mental health issue.
Carroll would host “keg parties” in the woods behind his home, invite his victims inside and provide them with additional alcohol, police said.
Police say Carroll continued grooming the boys until they developed a relationship and then invited them to his school-based office or home and sexually assaulted them.
Carroll was removed from his role as a school resource officer in 2018 and left the Scranton Police Department in 2022.
“This public servant took an oath to protect his community and was specifically assigned to look out for the well being of students — instead he used his position of authority to groom and sexually assault multiple teenagers,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a news release at the time of Carroll’s arrest.
Carroll is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, official oppression, institutional sexual assault and other offenses.