Latest news with #childendangerment
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
5-year-old boy with autism found on roof of Pittsburgh-area home
A 5-year-old boy with autism was found standing on the roof of his Brackenridge home earlier this month. Neighbors heard the boy screaming as he got stranded on the roof after apparently climbing out of a window on July 7 at 10 p.m. "He was out on that back roof for a half-hour crying and screaming to get in," neighbor Carol Karadeemas said. The 5-year-old boy was barefoot, wearing a T-shirt and had a soiled diaper, police said. His mother, Aniyah Johnson-Poindexter, was not home and had not been home since earlier that morning, according to officials. Officers rescued the child and took him to UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh for evaluation. "She comes in about 3:30 [a.m.] and she wanted to know who gave them the right to take her baby," Karadeemas said. Denied bond, Johnson-Poindexter faces one count of felony endangering the welfare of a child. She is in the Allegheny County Jail. As for the little boy, he remains in the custody of Allegheny County Children and Youth Services.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Preacher arrested after leaving 5-year-old alone in car to drink in bar
An Alabama preacher who police said left a 5-year-old unattended while he drank at a bar into the early morning hours is facing a criminal charge in connection to the weekend incident. John Gibson was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after police found the child inside Gibson's SUV, Dothan Police Department Lt. Scott Owens told USA TODAY on Wednesday, July 16. According to Owens, the department's public information officer, Gibson left a 5-year-old family member in his SUV while he drank at a bar in the 2800 block of Ross Clark Circle in Dothan from Saturday, July 12, into the early morning hours of Sunday, July 13. The city of Dothan is in Houston County in southeast Alabama near the Georgia and Florida state lines. 'His faith became sight': Megachurch pastor John MacArthur dies 'He was pretty highly intoxicated' A concerned patron alerted police that a child was in a vehicle unattended," Owens said. "When officers arrived, people directed them to a parking lot where they found the vehicle with the child inside unattended and ID'd Gibson as the owner of vehicle and the child's family member. USA TODAY is not releasing how the child is related to Gibson to protect their identity. It was not immediately known how long the child had been in the vehicle when the officer arrived on the scene, but police said the child was unharmed. "He was pretty highly intoxicated," Owen said recalling when police first interacted with the suspect. The Alabama Department of Human Resources, WTVY-TY, reported, "took the child into their care" until other family members arrived. Human skin? A teddy bear appeared to be wrapped in human flesh. Turns out it was a prank. 'It's just an overall unsafe issue' At the time of the crime, temperatures were in the low 80s, according to weather forecasters. "Regardless of the temperature, someone could have come and kidnapped the child or the child could have had a medical emergency," Owens said. "It's just an overall unsafe issue to leave a child in the car (alone). Police confirmed Gibson was a pastor at First Baptist Church of Dothan at the time of his arrest. First Baptist Church of Dothan statement on pastor's arrest In a statement released to the outlet, the church said it "parted ways with its associate pastor to families following his arrest." 'This incident occurred on the staff member's personal time and in no way involved any of the students or children who participate in our student ministry,' the church wrote in the statement. USA TODAY has reached out to First Baptist Church of Dothan. Pastor who drank in bar while child sat in SUV free on bond Officers booked Gibson into the jail on July 13, Owens said. As of July 16, he was free on $500 bond, according to Owen and information from Houston County Sheriff's Office jail records. Owen could not immediately be reached for comment and it was not known whether he had obtained a defense attorney in the case. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Preacher leaves 5-year-old alone in car to drink in bar, police say
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
Surrogate Seeking Custody Says Couple She Carried For Misled Her And Had 21 Kids
A Texas woman is seeking custody of a child she gave birth to last spring after claiming to be misled by a couple who had over a dozen surrogate children seized from their household amid child endangerment allegations. 'You just don't expect that you're going to go through a pregnancy and a delivery and then hand the baby over to their parents and then all of a sudden find out that there was abuse and neglect going on,' Kayla Elliott told NBC News. Elliott, a Texas resident, told the outlet she was working with Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC at the time and believed she was helping a family who couldn't conceive. She was told the family had one teenage child and they gave up on trying for more after failing multiple fertility treatments. The little girl Elliot gave birth to last spring ended up in the care of Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, in Arcadia, California. She told NBC News Zhang was hours late for the birth and barely looked at the baby. 'I don't know what the motive was now, but it was just very, very not what you would expect out of somebody who really wanted a child,' Elliott said. The couple was arrested in May on suspicion of child endangerment and neglect after their 2-month-old was admitted into a local hospital with a traumatic head injury and intracranial bleeding, according to a press release by Arcadia police shared with HuffPost. The couple was later released according to ABC 7. The children were taken into protective service. Detectives seized surveillance footage from the couple's home, which allegedly showed the family's nanny Chunmei Li, 56, violently shaking the infant on May 5, according to the press release. Li was not arrested at the time of the incident due to her whereabouts being unknown. Arcadia Police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo told ABC 7 detectives had discovered 15 children, ranging from 2 months to 13 years old, inside the couple's home during the investigation. Six more children were found in other homes. 'Many of the children were birthed through surrogacy and then the male and female at the residence took legal guardianship of those kids,' Cieadlo told the outlet. Cieadlo told The Associated Press most of the children were between the ages 1 and 3, adding that police believe only one or two were born biologically to Zhang. Records also indicate that Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC was registered to the same address where the children were found, though the registered agent is not Zhang or Xuan. A spokesperson for the Arcadia Police Department told HuffPost Zhang and Xuan's case has not been filed with the district attorney yet and was deferred for further investigation. 'We hope to have it back to the district attorney in the next several weeks,' the spokesperson said. 'Our primary focus at this point in on the child abuse allegations which we believe is supported by video evidence and phone records obtained during the execution of a search warrant.' Elliot is now working with a lawyer and seeking to obtain custody of the little girl she gave birth to. She wrote on a GoFundMe page that the child 'deserves stability, love, and a safe home.' 'These agencies, we're supposed to trust them and follow their guidance and come to find out this whole thing was a scam,' Elliot told ABC 7. Related... Don't Ignore This Email, It's Not A Scam — Apple Might Owe You Money DoorDash Driver Admits To Stealing $2.5 Million In Deliveries Scam Don't Fall For These 5 Disaster Relief Scams
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
French court tries couple accused of plan to ‘sacrifice' son
A French couple went on trial on Thursday accused of planning to 'sacrifice' their five-year-old son in the Moroccan desert, accusations they have strongly denied. The two music teachers were arrested in southern Spain in late 2023 as they were about to board a ferry to Morocco after buying a new four-wheel-drive and subletting their apartment near the French city of Bordeaux. An alarmed relative had told French prosecutors that the father intended to 'sacrifice' his son in the desert because he believed he was 'possessed', the investigation showed. The father, Florian L., denies ever having said that, his lawyer Audrey Boussillon said. 'Never did he have the intention to harm his son in any way,' she added. The couple, who hold 'anti-system' and 'mystical' beliefs, vehemently reject the charges of being part of a criminal gang and failing in their duties as parents, their defence team has said. The attorney for the mother Marie L., Aurelie Filippi-Codaccioni, said the couple had been to Morocco two years earlier and had wanted to return for an undetermined period. But Merlene Labadie, a lawyer representing the interests of the child, said the couple's beliefs endangered their son, who spoke of the importance of 'being cold, scared and removing the snake within us' when found. He is now in the custody of his maternal grandparents, she said. The trial is to last a single day and the verdict will likely be announced at a later date.
CNA
5 days ago
- CNA
French court tries couple accused of plan to 'sacrifice' son
BORDEAUX: A French couple went on trial on Thursday (Jul 17) accused of planning to "sacrifice" their five-year-old son in the Moroccan desert, accusations they have strongly denied. The two music teachers were arrested in southern Spain in late 2023 as they were about to board a ferry to Morocco after buying a new four-wheel-drive and subletting their apartment near the French city of Bordeaux. An alarmed relative had told French prosecutors that the father intended to "sacrifice" his son in the desert because he believed he was "possessed", the investigation showed. The father, Florian L, denies ever having said that, his lawyer Audrey Boussillon said. "Never did he have the intention to harm his son in any way," she added. The couple, who hold "anti-system" and "mystical" beliefs, vehemently reject the charges of being part of a criminal gang and failing in their duties as parents, their defence team has said. The attorney for the mother Marie L, Aurelie Filippi-Codaccioni, said the couple had been to Morocco two years earlier and had wanted to return for an undetermined period. But Merlene Labadie, a lawyer representing the interests of the child, said the couple's beliefs endangered their son, who spoke of the importance of "being cold, scared and removing the snake within us" when found. He is now in the custody of his maternal grandparents, she said. The trial is to last a single day and the verdict will likely be announced at a later date.
