PENNSYLVANIA Drowned boy's swim trip wasn't OK'd, center says
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- A boy from George Junior Republic who drowned in Slippery Rock Creek last week wasn't on an outing approved by the institution.
Rick Losasso, chief executive officer at the residential education and treatment center for delinquent and adjudicated teen boys, said the June 9 trip to the creek near Kennedy Mills Bridge in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County, wasn't authorized by the institution.
The cottage parent who took four boys to that location didn't have permission to take them there, Losasso said, declining to identify the man or to confirm if he is still working at the institution.
The boys sent to George Junior live in cottages with adults called cottage parents.
This particular cottage parent did have permission to take the boys to a place in the Grove City area to paint some canoes as a community-service project, Losasso said.
He wasn't authorized to take the boys swimming in Slippery Rock Creek, however, Losasso said.
Authorities said Nathaniel M. McCoy, 16, of Philadelphia jumped into the creek, known locally for its treacherous undercurrents, and was pulled under.
His body was recovered last Thursday about 40 feet from where he disappeared, Pennsylvania State Police said.
The police investigation is continuing, and Losasso said George Junior and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare are conducting their own investigations into the matter.