2 Children Found Living In Deplorable Conditions In Westmoreland County Apartment
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- Two people in Westmoreland County have been charged after sheriff's deputies found two children living in deplorable conditions.
When law enforcement walked into the apartment building in Jeannette, they were looking for fugitives.
"I had six deputies serve a common pleas warrant on theft on two individuals," said James Albert, the sheriff of Westmoreland County.
They were looking for 22-year-old Anthony Bittinger and 27-year-old Jennie Wagner, who was arrested and told deputies that she had not seen Bittinger. But it turns out, he wasn't far.
"They found him under the one girl's bed naked," Albert said.
That child was one of the two children found inside the apartment, which the sheriff said was not only filthy but dangerous.
"The apartment was horrible," Sheriff Albert said. "There were buckets of urine, drugs were strewn about, meth and we suspect heroin, with easy access to these young girls."
Bittinger and Wagner are both charged with drug counts and endangering the welfare of children. Bittinger is no stranger to the law. In 2019, he was arrested for DUI twice on the same night.
Sheriff Albert said he and his deputies are seeing more of this kind of situation.
"I attribute it to drugs, drugs, drugs, and the children are the ones that suffer," he said.
Wagner is free on bond, while Bittinger remains in the Westmoreland County Jail. The children are staying with relatives.