CLEARFIELD – A Woodland man is facing charges for allegedly not supervising his young daughter and taking marijuana into the Clearfield County Jail.
Raymond M. Nestlerode, 37, has been charged by Trooper Brian A. Elensky Sr. of the Clearfield-based state police with felony contraband/controlled substance and endangering the welfare of children.
He’s also been charged with misdemeanor marijuana-small amount personal use, use/possession of drug paraphernalia and recklessly endangering another person.
Nestlerode waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court at the jail. His bail is set at $50,000.
The charges stem from an incident June 1 when a report was received about a one-year-old walking in the middle of Main Street in Bradford Township without any supervision, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
When Elensky arrived shortly after 11 a.m., he saw the girl who was wearing only a T-shirt and diaper. She was standing with a woman who said she found the girl in the roadway and saw a motorist nearly strike her.
Because she thought she knew where the girl lived, she went to the home before calling state police. She said she knocked loudly for an extended period, but no one ever answered the door.
Elensky and another trooper went back to the residence and found an open door. The interior was reportedly very dirty and messy, and it appeared as though there had been a crime, such as a burglary or home invasion.
The troopers shouted loudly for several minutes, as well as banged on the open door. Eventually, they heard a low, raspy voice of a male coming from upstairs.
They asked the male to come down to speak with them concerning the girl. Elensky said it took several minutes before he made it down; when he did, he came across as sluggish and disoriented.
The male, now identified as Nestlerode, was reportedly “disheveled” and looked as though he’d just woken up. Nestlerode said he was the girl’s father and her caretaker at the time.
He claimed they had been upstairs together; however, Elensky advised the girl was found in the middle of Main Street and had nearly been struck by a car.
When Elensky asked Nestlerode how long it’d been since he’d seen his daughter, he was unable to provide an answer and reportedly became insulting and hostile.
When he turned around, Elensky saw a syringe containing a drug tangled in Nestlerode’s hair, according to the affidavit. They subsequently seized the syringe and placed Nestlerode under arrest.
Troopers proceeded to search Nestlerode for any additional drugs and paraphernalia. When nothing was found during the search, he was asked if he had anything; he said no and was warned of the consequences of taking drugs into the jail.
During his transport, Elensky said Nestlerode became very agitated, cussing and threatening lawsuits. He said Nestlerode didn’t show any concern for the safety or well-being of his daughter.
At the jail, Nestlerode was searched again by staff and found in possession of a small, plastic bag of suspected marijuana in his pants pocket.
