Woman charged in killing, dismemberment of daughter worked for Northampton County child services, had seven foster kids

 
        Photos of Sara Packer, 41, Grace Packer, 14, and Jacob Sullivan, 44.

 A woman charged with killing her adoptive daughter last year worked as an "adoption supervisor" for Northampton County before being suspended in 2010, and throughout that time also took in several foster children, authorities said Monday.

Sara Packer, the adoptive mother of 14-year-old Grace Packer, is charged in Bucks County along with Jacob Sullivan, Sara Packer's boyfriend, in the brutal death of the teen who had been reported missing last summer.

Prosecutors said Packer and Sullivan acted out a rape and murder fantasy when they killed Grace Packer in Richland Township last summer and dismembered her body.

Sara Packer, 41, of Horsham Township, Montgomery County, was charged Sunday with homicide, rape, conspiracy, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse. Authorities also charged Sullivan, saying he and Packer plotted for nearly a year before the girl was killed in July.

Northampton County officials issued a news release Monday stating that Packer worked for the county from 2003 through 2010, but did not include further details.

"Regarding the charges against Ms. Packer, the county cannot comment regarding ongoing job investigations," the statement read.

District Attorney John Morganelli said his office is not investigating Sara Packer because there are no allegations against her at this point.

County Controller Stephen Barron Jr. on Monday said Packer worked as a supervisor of adoptions in the county's Children, Youth and Families Division. He said Packer last worked for the county in January 2010.

According to a police detective, Packer adopted Grace in 2004 in Berks County.

Packer's employment status was listed as "suspended," but Barron said he had no additional details why she had been suspended. Packer's salary was $44,600 at the time, he said. Barron, the elected controller, said he spoke out because the public deserved to know about Packer.

She left that job nearly a year before her husband at the time, David Warren Packer, was charged by Allentown police in the first of two child sex abuse cases.

On Sept. 23, 2010, he was charged with indecent assault of a victim under age 13 from a 2006 incident. On Nov. 24, 2010, he was charged by Allentown police in a separate filing of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of someone under age 16 and corruption of minors from a 2008 incident.

Packer, now 40, pleaded guilty to indecent assault and statutory sexual assault in both cases and was sentenced to six months to five years in prison. He has been released and is required to register as a sexually violent predator.

According to public records, the couple lived in various parts of the Lehigh Valley, including Allentown, Bethlehem and Emmaus.

According to Northampton County court records, David Packer filed for divorce in June 2016, and the couple divorced in August.

Sara Packer was a foster parent to numerous children over the years, said Abington police Detective Cindy Pettinato, who started working the case when Grace was reported missing from her Montgomery County home in July. She said she knew of seven foster children that Sara Packer had in her care since 2004, but did not know of any investigations involving those children.

Pettinato said Packer and her ex-husband took in Grace and her siblings — a younger brother and older sister — in 2004, when Grace was 3. They later adopted them through Berks County Children and Youth Services, she said. Grace's biological mother lives in Berks County, officials said.

The detective said family members described Grace as a "sweet and very caring child" who loved to read, especially the "Twilight" series. Grace, a 10th-grader at Abington High School who was in learning-support classes, often befriended kids who had trouble making friends, Pettinato said.

"It's terrible. Everyone's horrified. I'm horrified," Pettinato said.

Grace's school community was already saddened by the news of her death when the gruesome details of the slaying came out over the weekend.

Nadine Barnett, the mother of two Abington students, said she had hoped to keep the worst details from her kids, ages 15 and 12, but social media made it impossible.

"They had a lot of questions, and I tried to answer them the best that I could. Unfortunately, there are horrible people in this world who do horrible things," Barnett said.

Barnett, a nurse, did not know Grace personally but heard from her children that the teen was a caring friend. Barnett has joined with other mothers to organize a memorial service for the teen next week, followed by a community forum. The group has started an online fundraiser with the goal of creating a scholarship in Grace's name for students who have experienced child abuse.

"We want to be her voice," Barnett said. "It's sad to know that something like this was happening to a child in our community and we hope we can help it from happening again."

Reporters Dan Sheehan and Matt Coughlin contributed to this story.
Comment: Missing PA teen found dismembered in woods, adoptive mom called 'person of interest'

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