Endangerment charges remain against West Mifflin pair accused of taking son from hospital
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The parents who took their infant from UPMC Children’s Hospital after being told they were suspected of abuse will face felony charges of child endangerment in Allegheny County court.
Felony charges of obstruction against Daemon Klingensmith, 23, of West Mifflin, and his wife, Jeannette Funnen, 32, were withdrawn during a preliminary hearing Thursday before West Mifflin District Judge Richard Olasz.
The child endangerment charges filed against the couple were sent to Common Pleas Court after both Klingensmith and Funnen stipulated to the facts of the case as presented in the criminal complaint.
“Given the burden of proof, I was pleased with the result,” Pittsburgh attorney David J. Shrager, who represents Klingensmith, said Thursday.
Klingensmith’s wife, Jeannette Funnen, 32, is represented by attorney Sean Logue of Carnegie.
The couple, along with the baby and Funnen’s 3-year-old son, were found Oct. 1 in Tennessee after a search that involved multiple agencies including the FBI. The search started Sept. 26, when police weren’t able to find the couple or the baby after they left the hospital.
The children were found in good condition, Klingensmith’s parents, Eric and Kimberly Klingensmith of Potter, Beaver County, said. They are caring for the children as the cases against their parents proceed in court, Shrager said.
The attorneys representing the couple said both maintain they’re innocent.
“By all reports, my client is a loving, devoted, caring father,” Shrager said, noting the couple voluntarily took their baby to the hospital.
“She maintains her innocence,” Logue said of Funnen, noting that his client took the baby to two different doctors for treatment and is not accused of physically harming the baby.
Klingensmith’s parents said previously the baby had been constipated and any bruising found may have been caused by them “massaging” the baby’s abdomen to help the baby’s condition. When the hospital told the parents they were suspected of abuse, they were scared and decided to leave, Klingensmith’s parents said.
They didn’t know they were the subject of a large search on criminal charges until they were arrested in Tennessee, Eric Klingensmith said.
Daemon Klingensmith is free on a $10,000 bond. Funnen remains in Allegheny County Jail, unable to post $50,000 bail, which Logue said he is trying to have reduced.