OC Woman Faces Charges After Three-Year-Old Found Outside Unsupervised in Freezing Temperatures

| April 10, 2017

HandcuffsOIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – An Oil City mother is facing charges after her three-year-old son was found wandering around outside unsupervised and without proper clothing to combat the frigid weather.

According to a criminal complaint, around 11:55 a.m. on March 22, Oil City Police Officers were dispatched to Vo Tech Drive, in the area of the Presbyterian Church lot, for a small child walking around unsupervised.

The complaint states that when officers arrived at the scene, two women were found near a Jeep Cherokee, and one of the women was holding the toddler. The women stated that they were in their vehicle and saw the child, so they got out of the vehicle and one of them got ahold of the toddler. The toddler’s camo jacket was open with no shirt underneath. There was a driver’s license in the toddler’s pocket belonging to 29-year-old Bailee Bushaw-Smith.

Officers headed to the apartment building at 7 Vo Tech Drive (listed on the driver’s license) while one of the known women sat in the police cruiser with the toddler to keep him warm. Shortly afterwards, the toddler was taken to the Oil City Police Department, and officers were instructed to pick up Bushaw-Smith and take her to the department, so CYS could speak to them, the complaint states.

When officers arrived at the apartment, the door was open approximately 12″ to 18″, and Bushaw-Smith came to the door after a second knock. When she was told why they were there, she admitted to being asleep. However, when she was later questioned by Chief Wenner, she stated that she had been looking for her son for 25 minutes but did not go outside when she saw the door was open, the complaint indicates.

Upon further investigation, it was learned that Bushaw-Smith had picked up her children from her mother’s house after working the night shift and then took her daughter to school. Then, she went back to the apartment, and she and her three-year-old son had lain down between approximately 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and then fell asleep. She stated that she remembered him waking about 11:00 a.m. and thought that she was awake but must have dozed off again, and the next thing she remembered was the police at her door, according to the complaint.

Police noted that there was a wooded area and a small creek nearby. The temperature was 27 degrees, and the toddler was clothed with only socks, a thin jacket that was open, and no shirt underneath, the complaint continues.

According to court documents, the Oil City Police Department filed one count of Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, a first-degree misdemeanor against Bushaw-Smith.

She faces a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. on April 26 in front of Magisterial District Judge Andrew F. Fish.

She was issued a certified summons.


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