CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman charged with endangering the welfare of a child after her daughter was found outside in only a diaper and T-shirt asked to withdraw her guilty plea Monday.
Nicole Lynn Luzier, 27, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, recklessly endangering another person, harassment and disorderly conduct in once case and harassment, disorderly conduct and defiant trespass for allegedly fighting with her mother who found the child.
According to the affidavits of probable cause, the temperature was approximately 20 degrees when Luzier’s mother found the two-year-old girl, who was crying, on her front porch Dec. 11 at 10:40 a.m. Luzier allegedly then fought with her mother and repeatedly phoned her. The two ended up in a physical altercation.
On Monday, Luzier’s attorney, Marc Decker, asked the court to allow her to withdraw her guilty pleas in both cases. He claimed she was not “well enough informed” to sign the agreements.
“She wholeheartedly disagrees with the facts” of the case, he said, adding the child was only outside unsupervised for a short period of time.
Luzier, who was on parole at the time of these incidents, was also the subject of a revocation hearing. President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman revoked her parole due to her violating it by committing the new offenses. She will remain in jail until she serves the remainder of her six-month sentence on a previous driving under the influence charge.
Ammerman did allow her to withdraw both guilty pleas in the new cases but re-set her bail at $10,000, straight on each case. Her original bail had been lowered from $10,000 to $1,000 at the time of her preliminary hearing.
The criminal complaint details the incident beginning when the victim found the child, who lives a short distance away, on her porch. She had severe redness to her hands and feet and was shaking uncontrollably. She was wearing one shoe and one boot. The girl was brought into the home and efforts were made to warm her up.
According to the affidavit, the length of time the child was outside is unknown.
For more details, see the story on the preliminary hearing here.
