The home in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where children were reportedly found living in dangerous conditions (WTAE/YouTube).
A mother in Pennsylvania has admitted culpability in a case of her children being left in squalor so she could live a “new and better life without them.”
Heidi Beer, 35, pleaded guilty in October to five counts of endangering the welfare of a child, five counts of recklessly endangering another person, and making false reports, Westmoreland County court records show. She is set to be sentenced on Dec. 19.
Beer and her mother, 69-year-old Leslie Ann Keller, were both arrested on July 28 after Vandergrift Borough police arrived at a home due to a report of a fight. What authorities ended up finding shocked them.
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There was a noticeable smell coming from the property, and, once inside, officers had to “avoid stepping on large feces droppings all over the residence, rotten food and urine pooled all over the floors,” according to a criminal complaint reviewed by Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE. Four children between ages 9 and 16 were said to have been inside, with the oldest telling police that their mother, Beer, had not been home in days.
The children reportedly had no water, with the shower spigot having been broken off. “It was very obvious that water had not been on in a long time,” the affidavit stated, adding that the children”s beds were observed to be deflated air mattresses, and there were holes in the ceiling across the home.
But Beer was not the children’s only guardian, authorities held, stating that their grandmother, Keller, lived about a mile away and was aware of the lack of food and water at Beer’s home. One of the children said Keller had not gone inside the home in months because it was “too gross,” and the grandmother allegedly confirmed that the kids would fill up empty cat litter containers with water at her house because there was no water at theirs.
When Keller tried to reprimand the 16-year-old girl for not cleaning up, a responding officer scolded the older woman, telling her it was not the “children’s responsibility to clean this absolute disgrace of a mess,” WTAE reported.
The children then told authorities where they believed their mom was — living 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 was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on a $20,000 bond until she posted it on Aug. 13.
Keller was also charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of children; it is unclear if she has submitted a plea. Her next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17.
