A child abuse pediatrician and defense counsel clashed Tuesday over the cause of an infant’s injuries during the second day of testimony in the criminal trial of suspended Pennsylvania State Trooper Christopher Young.
Young, 36, is on trial inside Courtroom 3 at the Schuylkill County Courthouse facing two consolidated sets of charges. Prosecutors accuse him of physically abusing one of his twin infant sons in 2023 and later intimidating his ex-wife to keep her from testifying against him.
Expert Medical Testimony Takes Center Stage
Dr. June Elcock-Messam, a child abuse pediatrician contracted with Delaware County Children & Youth Services, spent much of Tuesday on the witness stand for the prosecution. She testified that she was brought in to evaluate the case after a Schuylkill County CYS caseworker reached out to a contact at the Delaware County agency, leading to her expert review of the investigation.
Day 1 Recap: Ex-Wife Calls Trooper a “Monster”
Tuesday’s testimony follows an opening day dominated by Young’s ex-wife, Stacey Young, who called him a “monster” on the stand and detailed a history of medical disputes, text message admissions, and a February 2025 confrontation that led to his arrest.
Defense attorney Jay Nigrini countered on Monday by pointing to alternative medical causes, including Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), birth complications, and a third medical opinion from Mt. Sinai Hospital that found no evidence of abuse.
Commonwealth v. Christopher Young – Day 2: Defense Challenges Abuse Diagnosis
On Tuesday, the focus shifted to the medical evidence as Nigrini subjected Dr. Elcock-Messam to rigorous cross-examination, attempting to discredit her diagnosis by presenting competing clinical research in child abuse pediatrics. This came after hours of testimony from the doctor in which she explained that when she was presented with this case, as she does with every case, “I was looking for anything for it not to be Abusive Head Trauma (the modern term for Shaken Baby Syndrome).”
Elcock-Messam explained that in a majority of the cases where she is brought in as an expert, her conclusion is that a child was injured by accident, not abuse. She testified that was not the case with the Youngs’ infant son.
“In this particular case, shaking was definitely done,” she testified. “There is no other way to explain these injuries without some form of trauma.”
Elcock-Messam said she relied on tests performed on the Youngs’ infant twin by doctors at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital in Allentown. That was where the baby ended up a day after an incident in September 2023. Stacey Young and her then-husband Christopher took their son to that hospital after she was not satisfied with a diagnosis they received at the Geisinger-St. Luke’s Hospital emergency room the night prior.
Earlier that day, Stacey was preparing to return to work for the first time following her maternity leave. With her son placed securely on their bed, she turned around to find a pair of pants in her closet. In that time, she testified, the family dog jumped on the bed and left a small mark on the baby.
Later, after she had gone to work, her husband called “in a panic” and told her that their son was “starfishing” and his eyes were cast in a downward direction and to the side. Emergency room staff at Geisinger-St. Luke’s, outside Orwigsburg, reportedly dismissed the condition, saying the baby was just tired, and discharged him in less than an hour.
Elcock-Messam said when she reviewed the report from the ER staff there and saw that the child was discharged so quickly, “I was so distraught about the treatment of this child.”
Because the condition did not improve, the Youngs went the next day to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown. There, they received a completely different diagnosis following a battery of tests, which doctors and specialists said revealed the baby was a victim of abuse.
A Children & Youth Services investigation was launched, and Elcock-Messam was brought in as an expert.
“Lehigh Valley Hospital did an excellent job ruling out other causes,” she testified, noting that throughout the entire course of the investigation, she never physically examined the child herself and relied solely on reports and the baby’s medical records alongside her decades-long career.
Nigrini aggressively attempted to discredit Elcock-Messam. His defense strategy hinges partly on the third medical opinion the Youngs sought after they were permitted to leave a rehabilitation center under a CYS safety plan.
With that out-of-state doctor not yet called to the stand, Nigrini directly targeted Elcock-Messam’s qualifications and her knowledge of recent research on child abuse and abusive head trauma.
During his line of questioning, Nigrini asked Elcock-Messam if she was aware of numerous studies in the field of child abuse pediatrics. The doctor, who described herself as a research-focused practitioner who prides herself on staying current through literature and specialized conferences, dismissed many of the studies he cited.
When questioned about specific studies or authors she did not recognize, Elcock-Messam at times told Nigrini to “enlighten me.” In one instance, she told the defense attorney that a case study from nearly 40 years ago was conducted in “ancient times.”
Regarding another study from 2003 cited by Nigrini, Elcock-Messam testified, “I don’t know the study you’re talking about, nor do I care.”
At times, Elcock-Messam grew visibly frustrated with the line of questioning, explaining that child abuse pediatrics “can not be done in a bubble” and that every case presents unique factors.
She got defensive when Nigrini asked her if she knew what confirmation bias or “group think” was and if she believed she might be victim to it.
“Oh, you don’t know me,” she said. “There are always contrary opinions. We confer and we figure it out.”
While acknowledging that doctors often disagree, she testified that the findings regarding the Youngs’ infant were an exception. “Do you know how hard it is to get two doctors to agree on everything? In this case, we have doctor after doctor after doctor (that agree),” she told the jury.
In regard to another line of defense that Nigrini presented on Monday and prompted by questions from Deputy Attorney General Lauren Eichelberger, Elcock-Messam described the infant’s birth as uncomplicated despite some issues with him needing to be pushed back into the birth canal during labor.
“This was a beautiful, routine, full-term newborn,” she said.
Testimony in the week-long trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday morning.
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