A Wyoming Borough councilman who was recently sentenced to six months of probation for violating a protection-from-abuse order was charged Monday with violating the order for a second time during a concert last week at Mohegan Pennsylvania.
Russell Herron Jr., 48, of 234 Sharpe St., is accused of violating the PFA while attending the Plains Twp. casino’s Party on the Patio concert series last Thursday evening.
According to the complaint filed by township police, the woman, who is Herron’s ex-girlfriend, reported that she had been walking through a crowd at the casino when Herron and his group of friends passed in the opposite direction.
Minutes later, the group began walking behind the woman in what she interpreted as an act of intimidation, according to the charges.
The group remained in the woman’s area, staring at her, while Herron began standing directly behind her at a distance of about two feet, police allege.
The woman grew “frightened and intimidated” and immediately left the casino, police said.
Police charged Herron with being in contempt of a PFA order that Luzerne County Judge Tarah Toohil signed into effect on Nov. 19, 2024.
According to the original PFA application Herron’s ex-girlfriend filed in court, her juvenile son opened a letter on Oct. 5, 2024, that contained nude pictures of the her along with a warning: “Tell the truth, or this will be sent to your work, and kids school, you call cops it sends!! tell the truth.”
The pictures had been taken without the woman’s consent and were accompanied later the same month by more explicit pictures with another threatening message, according to the filing.
In March, Herron was initially charged with violating that order by referencing the woman in a Facebook post. Judge Tina Polachek Gartley found Herron on contempt of the order during a hearing the same month and sentenced him to six months of probation.
Following the latest alleged violation, Herron was ordered to appear for another contempt of court hearing, this time before Toohil at 2 p.m. June 30.
Herron, a Republican, was elected to a four-year term on borough council in the November 2023 general election, according to the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections.