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WILKES-BARRE — A woman from Glen Lyon was charged earlier this week after she allegedly threatened to blow up the Luzerne County Children and Youth Services building on North Pennsylvania Avenue.
Tina Marie Billotti, 42, of East Main Street, made the alleged threat that was overheard by another woman in the lobby on Monday, according to court records.
Billotti was charged by the county sheriff’s department with terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. She was released on $10,000 unsecured bail after she was arraigned by District Judge Alexandra Kokura Kravitz in Pittston.
According to the criminal complaint:
A sheriff deputy stationed at the building was approached by Children and Youth Supervisor Brian Steve at about 12:30 p.m.
Steve told the deputy there was a woman, identified as Billotti, in the lobby area who made threats to blow up the building.
Another woman with children in the lobby overheard Billotti saying if she did not get her children back after a hearing in October, she was going to return with a bomb and blow up the Children and Youth building, the complaint says.
Billotti was detained by the sheriff deputy.
After being read her Miranda rights, Billotti stated the reason she threatened to blow up the building was she was upset at Children and Youth and with her situation, the complaint says.
The alleged threat to Children and Youth is not the first time the county agency has been targeted.
Phillip Finn Jr., 49, of Plains Township, was charged in March 2017 after he allegedly firebombed Children and Youth Services after the agency took his 8-year-old daughter from him. Finn was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2017, and a superseding indictment was filed against him in May alleging he attempted to get a witness to withhold information.