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Family Sentenced In Neglect Case

SCRANTON — Family members, accused of starving one of their own to death, learned their punishment Thursday in court. When a mother and two daughters were...

SCRANTON -- Family members, accused of starving one of their own to death, learned their punishment Thursday in court.

When a mother and two daughters were arrested on murder charges last year, the district attorney in Lackawanna County said it was "the worst case of neglect" he had ever seen.

The three women from Taylor let their son and brother starve and suffer from scabies until he died last year.

The remaining members of the Gensiak family from Taylor are all locked up. The mother, Susan Gensiak, received the longest sentence. Her daughters Joan and Rebekah were also sentenced to time behind bars.

All three were initially charged with murder last year for failing to care for their son and brother who had Down syndrome.

The home on Williams Street in Taylor has been torn down, but neighbors say it will be a long time until the memory of what happened there is wiped away.

In June of 2013, three of the four people who lived there were charged with third degree murder.

Susan, Joan, and Rebekah Gensiak were accused of letting their son and brother with Down syndrome starve and rot while they spent his social security checks.

"This was a really difficult case. I know it's the worst case of neglect that I've ever seen in my time as a prosecutor," said Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Suzy Tierney.

The mother, Susan Gensiak, pleaded guilty to third degree murder. A judge sentenced her to 10 to 20 years in state prison.

Her oldest daughter, Joan, will spend at least six years in prison for what she failed to do for her brother Robert, and also for failing to treat her 2-year-old daughter for scabies when they were all living together there in Taylor.

One Gensiak daughter did open up about what happened at the home. During a court hearing, Rebekah Gensiak testified against her mom and sister for that, she received a lighter sentence of six months in jail.

Robert Gensiak was 30 years old, but weighed only about 60 pounds when he died last year.

Sara Wolff of Moscow came to court to speak for him.

"Because I am a self-advocate. I also have Down syndrome. I feel like his voice was never heard and that's why I'm here," Wolff said.

"He suffered terribly. This was a horrible case. Everybody was torn up about it and it should just not happen today. I mean, it was concentration camp stuff," said Don Broderick, the Arc of NEPA.

Advocates for people with disabilities say the Gensiaks never asked them for help caring for Robert.

Defense attorneys for Joan and Rebekah say that responsibility fell solely on their mother Susan.

"The same environment that Robert Gensiak, who's the true victim, was exposed to, that's what Joan's childhood was like," said Joan Gensiak's attorney Matt Comerford.

"I hope that she sits in jail and thinks about what Robert looked like every day of her incarceration," Tierney said.

The 10 to 20 year sentence that Susan Gensiak received is actually what Susan and her defense attorney asked for, what they thought was appropriate punishment for her crimes.

Susan Gensiak will be at least 70 years old when she's eligible for parole.

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