All charges against a Philadelphia man accused of assaulting a juvenile at a New Britain Borough behavioral health facility have been held over for trial in Bucks County Common Pleas Court following a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
Authorities said Dwayne Leon Shepherd Jr., 35, was taken into custody by Cheltenham Township Police on Oct. 22, 2025, on a warrant filed by investigators. Shepherd Jr. is charged with felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and aggravated assault, as well as misdemeanor charges of abuse of a care dependent person and simple assault, and summary harassment.
Police allege that Shepherd, a staff member at Foundations Behavioral Health, 833 E. Butler Avenue, pulled a calm, care-dependent juvenile from a couch in a common area, placing the youth’s hand in a “gooseneck position” before escorting the juvenile to their bedroom.
When the child attempted to leave, Shepherd was allegedly seen on surveillance video forcefully pushing the juvenile back inside.
Investigators said the same video showed that when the juvenile exited the room a short time later, there were visible red marks and discoloration across the upper back and neck area — injuries that were not present before the encounter.
Shepherd is free on $400,000 unsecured bail, set by on-call Magisterial District Judge Gary Gambardella, according to court records.Formal arraignment is set for Feb. 6 in Bucks County court. No attorney information is available on the criminal docket.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
