Ex-York City Officer Steven Cugini Is Accused of Raping a 13-Month-Old and Is Set for Trial in January 2027

A York City police officer was jailed and stripped of his badge after investigators accused him of sexually assaulting a 13-month-old girl left in his care, an infant who turned up at a Pennsylvania hospital with broken bones, deep bruising, and injuries doctors said were consistent with abuse.

State troopers assigned to the Lykens Criminal Investigation Unit opened the case after staff at the child’s daycare flagged marks on her body. According to a Pennsylvania State Police report, the girl had sustained severe bruising sometime between April 11 and April 15, 2024. The daycare director contacted the responding trooper on the morning of April 15 after the child was dropped off, and the infant was taken by ambulance to Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where doctors, the Dauphin County Child Abuse Team, and state police reviewed her condition.

The criminal complaints described a fractured tibia and fibula in her left leg, according to records reviewed by CBS 21 / WHP-TV. Investigators said the toddler had also been the victim of sexual violence.

The child’s mother, later identified in court coverage as the officer’s girlfriend, initially told authorities the baby had fallen during a bath, according to WHTM-TV. She also offered other explanations for the rest of the wounds. Those accounts unraveled as the investigation went on.

Troopers identified Steven Kyle Cugini, then 28, of Springettsbury Township, as the suspect. During questioning he first downplayed his role, then acknowledged that he had changed the child’s diapers and bathed her, claiming an accident in the bathroom. State police said the girl’s mother reported that Cugini had shut himself in the bathroom with the child and that she heard crying and loud noises coming from the room. Cugini eventually told police the infant had been hurt while she was alone in his care. He and the child’s mother had been in a relationship for roughly four months.

On April 16, 2024, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office approved charges. Cugini was arrested without incident and booked into Dauphin County Jail on $200,000 bail. Court records list the counts as rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and aggravated assault for attempting to cause serious bodily injury. The alleged crimes were said to have taken place in Elizabethville in Dauphin County and in Springettsbury Township in York County.

York City Police Commissioner Michael Muldrow placed Cugini on immediate suspension the night of the arrest. By April 17 the suspension was unpaid. Cugini — a probationary officer who was also a U.S. Army National Guard cavalry scout — was dismissed from the force.

At a preliminary hearing on May 29, 2024, the case was held for trial. Dr. Lori Frasier, a pediatric child-abuse specialist at Hershey, testified that she examined the girl and found bruising, an abrasion to the chest, and the broken bones in the lower left leg. She told the court that, in her professional opinion, the injuries were consistent with the abuse Cugini was accused of. A state police investigator testified that evidence from Cugini’s phone would be central to the prosecution, including searches related to the potential charges. Troopers also described a text exchange in which Cugini appeared to coach the mother toward a matching account. Judge Rebecca Margerum found the evidence sufficient to proceed.

These are allegations. Cugini has pleaded not guilty. He is presumed innocent unless a jury says otherwise.

The prosecution slowed after his privately retained attorney moved to withdraw in December 2024, telling the court Cugini could no longer afford her fees. He has remained free on the $200,000 bail. In August 2026, ABC27/WHTM reported that Cugini’s jury trial is scheduled for January 25, 2027. Pennsylvania State Police also charged the child’s mother, Brianna Shoeman, 26, with felony endangering the welfare of a child, alleging she failed to seek medical attention; she was scheduled to enter a plea on September 3, 2026.

The Cugini case is one of several in recent years to test public trust in how departments vet and supervise their officers. Related from The AEGIS Alliance: Pennsylvania parents sentenced to prison, Lee County sheriffs and fabricated evidence, and the FBI’s warning on child sextortion.

Local CBS 21 / WHP coverage of the preliminary hearing: