Croft v. Westmoreland

On February 1, 1993, an anonymous report was made to Westmoreland County Children and Youth Services (WCCYS) (defendant) alleging that Dr. Croft (plaintiff) was sexually abusing his daughter, Chynna. The report alleged that Chynna had walked naked at night to a neighbor’s house and told the neighbor she was “sleeping with mommy and daddy.” Carla Danovsky (defendant) was assigned to investigate the report. During later interviews with Danovsky, the Crofts confirmed that Chynna had recently left her bed in the middle of the night and locked herself out of the house. Chynna then walked to her nanny’s house nearby and arrived wearing a pajama top and holding her pajama bottoms and a dirty diaper. The nanny later confirmed the Crofts’ version of the incident. The Crofts also informed Danovsky that Chynna regularly slept in her parents’ bed because she had seizures and required monitoring at night. Dr. Croft explained that he and his wife were always clothed when Chynna slept in their bed, and Chynna slept naked only on rare occasions. At the conclusion of the interviews, Danovsky informed Dr. Croft that Chynna would be immediately removed from the home and placed in foster care if he did not leave the home and refrain from having contact with Chynna until the investigation was completed. As a result of this ultimatum, Dr. Croft chose to leave the home. The Crofts later filed a complaint against the county, WCCYS, and Danovsky alleging that they had violated the Crofts’ Fourteenth Amendment liberty interest in the companionship of Chynna. The trial court dismissed the Crofts’ complaint on summary judgment, and the Crofts appealed.