Child welfare agencies scrutinized after teen's brutal death

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania officials are scheduled to release a report on how child welfare agencies handled the case of a teenager who endured years of abuse before her 2016 rape and murder.

Sara Packer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced Friday to life without parole for plotting the death of her adoptive daughter, 14-year-old Grace Packer. Sara Packer’s boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, who raped and strangled Grace, was sentenced to death last week.

The teenager suffered mental, sexual and physical abuse in the years leading up to her murder, but child welfare officials allowed her to remain in Sara Packer’s home.

The state Department of Human Services investigated Grace’s death. Its report was kept under wraps while Packer and Sullivan were being prosecuted. With the criminal case now over, state officials say they’ll release their findings Monday.