Masontown parents charged with child endangerment

Here is another perfect example of how the mistakes of a few give the rest of us a bad name. No wonder people think all pts on MMT are such terrible people when these are the only examples of a MMT pt they ever get to see or hear about!

This comes from a Pennsylvania paper DAILY COURIER and the original link is

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/s_669212.html

Masontown parents charged with child endangerment

By Chris Foreman, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, February 27, 2010

A Masontown couple was charged Friday with endangering the welfare of children because they allegedly left their four young children alone Monday afternoon in a home authorities said was in "deplorable" condition.

Robert William Fowler, 33, and Robin Lynn Harbarger, 32, each was charged with four first-degree misdemeanor counts for allegedly leaving their 10-year-old daughter in charge of her 8- and 3-year-old brothers and 16-month-old sister.

Fowler and Harbarger will be notified of the charges by summons. District Judge Randy Abraham has scheduled a preliminary hearing for April 1.

Borough police got an anonymous tip that nobody was supervising the children at their East Harvey Avenue home, Sgt. Jeffrey Standish said in the criminal complaint.
Neighbors subsequently told the media that the home was filthy and had no running water.

A relative told police that the couple went to a Uniontown area methadone clinic that day. She was outside the home when Standish arrived.

Although one of the children was walking outside without a coat, the relative said she went into the house to confirm the children were safe.

Fayette County Children and Youth Services removed the children from the home Monday and placed them with the relative.

Court records show Fowler and Harbarger were scheduled to be at the Fayette County Courthouse Monday morning for a pretrial conference on charges of receiving stolen property in an unrelated case.

They pleaded guilty in that case Tuesday, according to the records.