Baby sitter jailed on assault charges

GREENSBURG — A baby sitter has been jailed on charges she shook and punched a 10-month-old she was watching last spring, leaving the girl unconscious.

Twenty-two-year-old Jessica Nichols, of Greensburg, was arraigned Monday on charges including aggravated assault and child endangerment stemming from the incident May 5.

That’s when Nichols allegedly shook and punched little Scylla Connor after her mother, April Dittmar, asked Nichols to watch the child.

The girl’s mother said Nichols claimed the baby’s brother pushed the girl, causing her to fall and hit her head. But doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC told the mother and state police that the baby’s injuries couldn’t have happened that way.

Former teacher receives probation

PITTSBURGH — A former substitute teacher charged with having sex with two 18-year-old students while her husband was away has pleaded guilty to giving them alcohol, but not having sex.

Under Monday’s plea bargain, 26-year-old Tiffany Leiseth, of Moon Township, will spend a year on probation and has lost her Pennsylvania teacher’s license.

Leiseth’s defense attorney, Michael DeRiso, said Tuesday the outcome was appropriate because the boys were old enough to consent to sex. But police and Allegheny County prosecutors had argued the boys couldn’t legally consent because of their student-teacher relationship with Leiseth.

By The Associated Press