CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) – Child endangerment charges have been filed against a local woman after a toddler reportedly came close to falling out of a second-story window at a residence in Rimersburg Borough.
According to court documents, the New Bethlehem Borough Police Department on October 12 filed criminal charges against 23-year-old Zarinia Marie Andreassi, of East Brady.
On September 8, New Bethlehem Borough Police received a request for an investigation into alleged child abuse at a residence on Atchison Way in Rimersburg Borough. The allegation stated two children were at the residence, on the second floor, with the younger of the two leaning out of the window, according to a criminal complaint.
Additional evidence came to light in an interview with Clarion County Children and Youth Services (CYS) and the children’s mother on September 24, the complaint indicates.
On October 1, Chief Malnofsky, of the New Bethlehem Police Department, interviewed Zarinia Andreassi, who was the babysitter for the children on the day in question.
According to the complaint, when questioned about the incident, Andreassi told Chief Malnofsky that she was in the second-story spare bedroom doing laundry while the children, a one-year-old and a four-year-old, were playing in their room. She reported the four-year-old took the box fan out of the window and the one-year-old was looking out of the window.
Andreassi stated she was told by an adult that the younger child was “hangout out of the window,” but when she checked on them, they were just looking out of the window. She told police she attempted to call her sister, the children’s mother, but the phone was busy. Her sister then called her back after getting a phone call from someone in the apartment complex, the complaint states.
Police obtained a written statement from Andreassi, and nowhere in the statement did she say that she closed the window to prevent the child from falling out of it, according to the complaint.
Chief Malnofsky then followed up with the children’s mother, who reported the incident occurred around July 4. She stated that her sister, Zarinia Andreassi, was watching the children when she received a call from a friend saying her youngest child was hanging out of the window and a neighbor had seen the child and yelled at the girl to get back inside. She then called Andreassi to find out what was going on. Andreassi told her the kids were looking out of the window. She told police that she told Andreassi to close the window and then headed home. When asked how the child was able to open the window, she told Chief Malnofsky that she had a fan in the window, the complaint states.
Chief Malnofsky also interviewed a witness to the incident.
According to the complaint, the witness reported she saw the younger child crawling out of the window and screamed for help. She then yelled for the child to get back inside, and she believed the older child pulled the younger one away then.
When asked if she saw Andreassi during the incident, she stated she did not.
A second witness was also interviewed and told Chief Malnofsky that she heard the first witness scream and then went outside. She reported she saw the older child pulling the younger child in the window, the complaint states.
When asked if she saw Andreassi, the second witness said Andreassi came down the steps and closed the door to the residence.
The window in question is low to the floor inside the apartment, approximately 24 inches, and the height from the window to the ground outside is approximately 15 feet.
Andreassi was arraigned in front of Magisterial District Judge Jeffrey C. Miller at 10:00 a.m. on October 16, on the following charges:
– Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Felony 3 (two counts)
She is currently free on $5,000.00 unsecured bail.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on October 27, with Judge Miller presiding.
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