The home in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where children were reportedly found living in dangerous conditions (WTAE/YouTube).
A mother and grandmother in rural Pennsylvania are accused of leaving the children they were supposed to care for in extremely unsafe conditions.
Heidi Lynn Beer, aged 35, and Leslie Ann Keller, aged 69, are both facing charges of five felony counts each for putting children’s welfare at risk as a parent or guardian. Beer is also being charged with five misdemeanor counts for recklessly endangering another person and one count of filing a false report.
The pair were taken into custody on July 28 after police in Vandergrift Borough, located in Westmoreland County, responded to a call about a fight. However, they ended up discovering far more troubling issues.
An unpleasant odor emanated from the residence, and once inside, officers had to navigate around large piles of feces, decayed food, and pools of urine on the floors, as indicated by a criminal complaint reviewed by Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE. Four children, aged between 9 and 16, were found inside, with the eldest informing the officers that their mother, Beer, hadn’t been home for several days.
Reports suggested the children had no access to water, and the shower spout was missing. “It was very clear the water hadn’t been operational for a long time,” noted the affidavit, also mentioning that the beds were merely deflated air mattresses and there were multiple holes in the ceiling throughout the house.
Authorities stated that Beer was not the sole guardian, emphasizing that their grandmother, Keller, lived approximately a mile away and was aware of the dire situation at the kids’ home, lacking food and water. One child mentioned that Keller hadn’t entered the house for months due to its filthiness, and she reportedly admitted that the children would take empty cat litter containers to her house to get water because there was none at their home.
When Keller attempted to reprimand the 16-year-old girl for the uncleanliness, an officer intervened, admonishing the older woman by asserting that it was not the “children’s responsibility to clean this absolute disgrace of a mess,” as reported by WTAE.
Police reportedly learned Beer had been staying with her boyfriend in Pittsburgh – about a 50-minute drive away – and that he had asked her to leave them behind because he could “give her a new and better life without them.” He was also allegedly abusive to the children.
Beer is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on a $20,000 bond. She has a preliminary court hearing scheduled for Aug. 12.
Keller has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 9. It is unclear if she is being held in jail. The children are reportedly in the care of other family members.
