GREENSBURG, Pa. – A Vandergrift woman has been sentenced to jail, probation, and home monitoring after pleading guilty to charges of endangering the welfare of five children who were discovered living in squalid conditions.
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli announced that Heidi Beer, 35, pleaded guilty in county court and was sentenced by Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to serve 3 to 23 months in prison, followed by three years of probation and six months of home electronic monitoring. Judge Bilik-DeFazio ordered Beer to serve her home monitoring in the same Emerson Street residence where the children had been forced to live.
Beer was charged by Vandergrift Police in August after officers encountered the children, ages 16, 15, 14, 10, and 9, while responding to an unrelated call. The children told officers they had not seen their mother for several days and were unable to contact her. When police accompanied them home, officers reported an overwhelming stench and discovered deplorable conditions inside the house — feces and urine on the floor, no running water or food, holes in the walls, leaky pipes, and bunk beds made of plywood without mattresses.
Investigators learned the children had been collecting jugs of water from a relative’s home in Parks Township because the residence had no functioning plumbing. Their clothing was stored in an abandoned house next door.
When contacted by police, Beer admitted she had been staying with a boyfriend in West Virginia and was aware of the conditions inside the home. The children were immediately placed in the care of relatives, and Beer was taken into custody to begin serving her sentence.
District Attorney Ziccarelli credited Assistant District Attorney Krista Koontz for prosecuting the case and Vandergrift Police for their swift intervention.
