Ex-Kids Peace employee charged with sexual assault

A former Kids Peace employee was charged Monday with sexually assaulting a juvenile at the facility, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announced.

Kharee J. Greene, 23, of Lyons Station, Berks County, was charged with one count of institutional sexual assault, a third-degree felony. He was arraigned by District Judge Jacob Hammond and was sent to Lehigh County Jail under $25,000 bail.

He has since been terminated by Kids Peace.

On July 11, a state trooper began investigating a report of child abuse at Kids Peace in North Whitehall Township, Martin said. The incident happened on June 26.

During the investigation, the trooper interviewed the victim and a juvenile witness, both of whom lived at the facility while Greene was employed at Kids Peace.

Investigators also viewed surveillance video from the facility taken on June 26.

The investigation concluded that Greene sexually assaulted the juvenile resident of Kids Peace, Martin said.

Kids Peace provides residential, psychiatric hospital care, foster care and other mental health and behavioral services for children and their families.

Besides Pennsylvania, it has facilities in seven states and about 2,000 employees, including 1,350 in the Lehigh Valley.

Kids Peace spokesman Robert Martin said Greene was hired earlier this year after passing all required background checks and took the mandatory training for direct care duties.

“The incident that led to the criminal charges announced today was first reported to authorities by Kids Peace as part of our standard safety protocols,” Robert Martin said.

“We also followed our policies by immediately placing the staff member on administrative leave with no contact with clients, and later to terminate their employment.”