REYNOLDSVILLE BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) – Felony child endangerment charges have been filed against a Reynoldsville woman accused of leaving two young children home alone.
Court documents indicate the Reynoldsville Borough Police Department on Tuesday, January 18, filed criminal charges against 31-year-old Amy Elizabeth Sanchez.
According to a criminal complaint, around 7:45 a.m. on December 14, 2021, Reynoldsville Borough Police received a call requesting assistance for Jefferson County Children and Youth Services (CYS) at a residence on East Main Street where a five-year-old child was reportedly left home alone.
Police arrived at 8:00 a.m. and found a CYS caseworker on the front porch of the residence. The caseworker indicated she had arrived around 7:22 a.m. and found two minor children at home alone. She reported looking through the front window and seeing an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old child in the living room and noted the eight-year-old child then ran out the door to get on the school bus. The child reportedly stated: “Mom isn’t home, she’s at work,” the complaint states.
The caseworker knocked on the front door, and the five-year-old child answered. The caseworker then asked the child to stay in the house while she made some calls.
According to the complaint, when police spoke to the five-year-old child, they found the child was alone in the house. The child indicated he/she did not know how to call his/her mother at work and were waiting for “a lady” to pick them up and take them to school.
Around 8:22 a.m., a known woman arrived at the residence to pick up the child. The woman reportedly told police she had been picking the child up for approximately three weeks. When asked if she knew the child was home alone, she said she didn’t realize at first, but one day when she was picking up the child, she asked the child to ask his/her mother about something, and the child said his/her mother was not home. The woman then asked to speak to a known man who also lives at the residence, and the child said he was not home, either. She then noted there were never any cars at the residence when she picked up the child, the complaint indicates.
Later that evening, police met with the children’s mother, Amy Sanchez, and the known man.
According to the complaint, both individuals acknowledged the two children were home alone for an extended period of time. The known man reported leaving the residence around 2:15 a.m. and Sanchez left around 6:00 a.m.
Sanchez noted the known man, who had previously been a supervisor for CYS in another county, said “it should be fine,” and the known man acknowledged he did say that. However, when police asked the man if he thought it was okay to leave an eight-year-old and a five-year-old home alone for any amount of him, his response was “no,” the complaint states.
Police then asked Sanchez if she would have left the children alone by themselves if the known man had not been there, and she said “no.” She reportedly indicated she also used “Alexa” to help watch her children.
The known man told police the eight-year-old child is home alone for approximately 15 minutes after school before he arrives home, as well, the complaint notes.
The following charges were filed against Sanchez through Magisterial District Judge David B. Inzana on January 18:
– Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Felony 3 (two counts)
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. on February 23 with Judge Inzana presiding.
No charges have been filed against the known man as of January 20.