A 22-year-old Easton woman, who was babysitting three small children, faces three charges after passing out drunk on a couch before food burned on her stove, city police report.
Leonna Porter was intoxicated and unconscious when police and firefighters arrived at 11:30 p.m. April 12 at 1109 Lehigh St. after a neighbor heard the alarm, looked through the mail slot and saw smoke, police Capt. Matthew Lohenitz. A small child opened the door for the neighbor, Lohenitz said.
Porter is an aunt to the children ages 7 and 4 years old and 8 months old, Lohenitz said. The children’s parents told police that Porter was sober when they dropped off the kids before going out, Lohenitz said.
Porter was awakened and taken to an area hospital to get checked out, Lohenitz said. She was believed to be under the influence of alcohol and was belligerent throughout the process, he added.
No one was hurt in the incident, Lohenitz said. What was reported as a dwelling fire mostly involved smoke and was quickly dealt with, Lohenitz said.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was cooking the food, Lohenitz said.
ChildLine was notified as was Northampton County Children & Youth and the kids were turned over to their parents, Lohenitz said.
Three counts of endangering the welfare of a child -- two of them felonies -- were filed on Thursday and Porter was arraigned at an unspecified time, records show. She was housed in Northampton County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.
A tentative preliminary hearing date wasn’t immediately available, likely due to district courts being closed on Friday.
Partial paperwork did not list an attorney for Porter.
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