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WILKES-BARRE — A Wilkes-Barre Township woman cleared on child endangerment charges stemming from prescription pills found during a diaper change of her baby has filed a civil lawsuit against the arresting officer.

Richard Harding, who has since retired as an officer in Wilkes-Barre, is named solely in the lawsuit filed by Colleen R. Gembitski. She filed the suit through her attorneys, Barry H. Dyller and Theron J. Solomon, in Luzerne County Court on Friday.

Harding filed a criminal complaint against Gembitski in June 2019 charging her with a single count of child endangerment after a bag containing four prescription pills fell from her infant during a diaper change at a child care center in June 2019.

The child endangerment charge against Gembitski was dismissed March 13, 2020 during pre-trial proceedings.

According to the lawsuit, the baby had his diaper changed several times by staff at the child care center before the pills fell to the floor during the fourth diaper change.

An official at the child care center called police.

The suit alleges Harding, as the investigating officer, failed to interview “any of the myriad persons” at the child care center who had contact with the infant, and failed to determine if any child care center employee was a drug user.

Harding, according to the suit, did not request a fingerprint analysis on the bag that contained the pills or ask anyone at the child care center if they handled the bag.

Gembitski was not interviewed by Harding to determine how or why a bag with four pills fell from the infant’s diaper, the suit says.

The suit further alleges Harding omitted from the criminal complaint the names of those who changed the infant’s diaper.

Harding could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The suit alleges a single count of malicious prosecution against Harding.

Wilkes-Barre City and the police department are not named in the suit.