CLEARFIELD – A DuBois woman facing a felony charge because her child collapsed after taking a variety of drugs including cocaine pleaded guilty to lesser charges Monday during plea and sentencing court.
Kimberly Marie Clark, 46, and Jason Edward Shaffer, 48, were both charged with felony endangering the welfare of a child after an incident at Clark’s home in Sandy Township on July 17, 2022.
Prior to sentencing, District Attorney Ryan Sayers noted that Clark is cooperating with the prosecution in the case against Shaffer.
Her attorney, Joe Ryan, told President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman that what happened was “horrible” and admitted Clark was intoxicated at the time.
He ensured the judge that with drug and alcohol counseling, she would not be “before you again.”
Ammerman sentenced her to nine months to 18 months in the county jail with two years concurrent probation for misdemeanor endangering the welfare of children.
She was fined $300 plus costs and ordered to complete a parenting program.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police received a call from a girl saying her sister stumbled around and fell in the front yard. When she asked her mother about the girl’s condition, “she got mad and screamed at her.”
Police contacted Shaffer, who shares custody of the girl with Clark, about the concerns from her sister. Shaffer said he had been at Clark’s apartment that day and didn’t see anything wrong with his daughter.
Over two hours later, they received another message from the same caller regarding a domestic disturbance.
This time the girl said Shaffer was at Clark’s apartment to get medication for his daughter, but Clark barricaded the door so he couldn’t get in.
Later the girl told Children, Youth and Family Services that her sister was lying unresponsive in the yard when Shaffer arrived.
When police arrived on the scene, they were all standing on the front lawn. Clark was reportedly leaning against a porch railing to keep her balance and smelled of alcohol.
She and Shaffer were screaming back and forth at each other. An officer asked to speak to her privately in the home and they went inside.
Once they were inside, he saw a young female slumped over in a recliner. Clark said this was her daughter who was staying with her.
She stated that the girl had been hanging out at a neighbor’s apartment and had “probably taken something.” Clark appeared to be unconcerned about her condition, the officer noted in the criminal complaint.
This officer tried to wake the girl up but she was not responding. She had “shallow breathing and was sweating profusely.”
Because he suspected she was experiencing an opioid overdose, he administered two vials of Narcan and called for emergency medical services.
A report from CYS noted that the girl had THC, cocaine and alcohol in her system and had taken approximately 30 pills of an unknown substance.