HARRISBURG, PA — A Lebanon County judge has denied a request for post-conviction relief filed by Kimberly Maurer, upholding her life sentence plus 10 to 20 years for the brutal abuse and killing of 12-year-old Maxwell Schollenberger in 2020.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the ruling on August 26, confirming that the Office of Attorney General successfully argued Maurer had received fair representation during her 2022 trial and that the verdict was supported by overwhelming evidence.
Conviction and Sentencing
Maurer and her husband, Scott Schollenberger, were convicted of subjecting Maxwell to prolonged abuse and neglect. Prosecutors detailed how the couple locked the boy away, isolated him from the outside world, and subjected him to extreme deprivation and mistreatment.
Maurer’s 2022 conviction resulted in a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, plus an additional 10 to 20 years. Schollenberger, the boy’s father, is serving a life sentence as well.
Judge Condemns Attempt to Avoid Accountability
The Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) motion came after Maurer’s earlier appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court was denied. Lebanon County Common Pleas Judge Bradford Charles, who presided over the PCRA motion, issued a sharply worded opinion rejecting Maurer’s claims.
Judge Charles called the motion “offensive” and described it as Maurer’s “latest effort to escape responsibility for her heinous deed.”
Attorney General Sunday praised the ruling, stating: “The acts in this case are so cruel and depraved that they are difficult to believe. Our office argued, and the presiding judge agreed, that this motion for relief was the defendant’s latest attempt to avoid accountability for the deliberate and intentional torture and killing of a pre-teenage child. Our criminal justice system worked just as it should in this case, and the defendant appropriately will spend the rest of her life in a prison cell.”
Details of the Crime
In May 2020, authorities discovered Maxwell’s body inside the family’s Annville Township home. Investigators found the boy had been locked inside a darkened room with its windows sealed to block sunlight.
At the time of his death, Maxwell weighed just 47 pounds, showed signs of severe malnutrition, and suffered head trauma. A forensic pathologist ruled his death a homicide, caused by blunt force head injuries compounded by starvation and neglect.
Prosecution of the Case
The Office of Attorney General prosecuted Maurer’s original trial and represented the Commonwealth during the PCRA proceedings. Senior Deputy Attorney General Christopher Schmidt argued the latest motion, successfully defending the trial’s outcome.
With this ruling, Maurer’s conviction and sentence remain intact, ensuring she will spend the rest of her life in prison for her role in one of Lebanon County’s most disturbing child abuse cases.
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