Baby sitter pleads guilty to endangering 5-year-old
A Butler woman charged with having suspected heroin and hypodermic needles in the same motel room as a 5-year-old child who she was baby-sitting pleaded guilty to associated charges in Butler County Court on Tuesday.
Katie A. Schultz, 34, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and possession of drug paraphernalia before President Judge Thomas Doerr. The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 3 to 12 months in Butler County Prison, followed by one year of probation and fines. She is scheduled for sentencing on June 6.
Schultz was initially charged with misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, recklessly endangering another person and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after an incident at the Super 8 on Route 8 south on May 2, 2017. Butler Township police filed the charges after officers were called to the motel for a report of a screaming child in one of the rooms.
The child was calling out for his mother, police said.
Police found Schultz and the boy, who she identified as her son, in the room. She claimed the child was crying after he bumped his head. It was later found that the boy was not her son, police said.
While in the room, one of the officers noticed a plastic bag between two pillows on one of the beds. The bag contained suspected heroin, police said, and officers seized 15 stamp bags, five empty bags of heroin and two uncapped syringes during a search of the room, according to court documents.
Schultz told police that a friend of hers had earlier been in the room and used a needle on one of the beds, documents said.
It was also found that Schultz — who has 25 felony convictions — was wanted on a bench warrant issued April 17, 2017, after she failed to appear for a probation violation hearing stemming from a 2016 case of possessing drug paraphernalia, court records showed.
She was arrested on the warrant, and Schultz's mother, 61-year-old Carol Schultz of Center Township, eventually showed up at the motel. She claimed to be the boy's legal guardian, having adopted him after his biological mother died.
Police said in accordance with a “safety plan” previously imposed by Butler County Children and Youth Services, Katie Schultz was not permitted to be alone with the boy. The plan, which was set up April 20, was for 30 days and prohibited Katie Schultz from having “unsupervised contact” with the child, according to police.
Despite the safety plan, Carol Schultz admitted that her daughter was baby-sitting the boy. CYS took custody of the boy, and no further information on his status was available.
