Harrison police accuse 'stressed' babysitter of walking out on 3 kids under 3 years old; felony charges filed

Harrison police accused a woman who was babysitting three children under the age of 3 of walking out on them because she was frustrated about the way they were behaving.

Charlene Reed, 33, of the 400 block of Park Avenue in Harrison was charged by summons with three felony counts of endangering the welfare of children. She was ordered to appear Sept. 27 for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Carolyn Bengel.

Police wrote in Reed’s arrest papers that officers responding to a 911 call placed by the children’s mother about 4:15 p.m. Aug. 8 found her 1- and 2-year-old girls out on the sidewalk wearing diapers and no shoes.

The door to the apartment was open, and there were no safety gates at the bottom or top of the inside staircase, according to a criminal complaint.

Police said a 3-month-old girl was found in an upstairs bedroom. A neighbor helped emergency medical technicians watch the children while officers investigated the incident, the complaint said.

The children’s mother told police she was traveling to Pittsburgh for a job interview when Reed called and told her she was frustrated because the children were acting up and she was leaving, according to the complaint.

The mother said she called 911 because she feared for the safety of her children and then turned around and headed back to her home, police said.

When police went to Reed’s home to question her about the incident, she admitted leaving the children unattended because she was eight weeks pregnant and too stressed to watch them, according to the complaint.

She told police it was wrong for her to leave the children unsupervised in the home, the complaint said.