Courtenay Lynde Jernigan, 39, of the 100 block of Penn Street — who appeared briefly before District Judge Kenneth Deatelhauser of Souderton on Feb. 21 — will be formally arraigned in county court in April on two counts each of felony endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person.

Two counts of misdemeanor simple assault filed against Jernigan were withdrawn at Deatelhauser’s court, and Jernigan — who was escorted inside by Hatfield Township police while handcuffed and clad in a prison jumpsuit — was transported back to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, where she remains incarcerated in lieu of $5,000 cash bail set by Deatelhauser at her Jan. 27 preliminary arraignment.

Advertisement

Hatfield Township police said that just after 7 p.m. on Jan. 26, officers were dispatched to Jernigan’s residence after her landlord reported that when he went to pick up a rent check from Jernigan, he found the front door open and her two children, ages 2 and 5, alone inside the apartment.

When officers arrived, they found the two children secured by a childproof gate in the small kitchen area, which had pieces of food on the floor, table and countertops, and trash, dirty dishes, clothes and toys covering all surfaces, police said.

Despite the heat being on in the second-floor apartment, the kitchen was cold because the front door and a nearby window were open — police noted it was 22 degrees outside at the time — and the 2-year-old was wearing only a diaper, according to police.

Officers said both children appeared to be suffering from a cold, and that there were cigarettes and a bottle of cough syrup in the kitchen that were visible and within reach of the children.

No food was set aside for the children, only a plastic bottle with “a brown liquid,” and the 5-year-old child — who said that Jernigan had left the apartment “when it was light outside” — stated that he had not eaten dinner, police said.

Police said that the 5-year-old was able to climb over the gate to gain access to the rest of the apartment, but once the gate was opened, the 2-year-old child attempted to eat a dirty piece of bread that was sitting on the living room floor.

The entire apartment was covered in clothes, trash and toys “with limited area for walking around,” police said, and a bedroom that appeared to be for the 5-year-old was also covered with junk, leaving no space for sleeping.

Additionally, police said, there was a wall of knives in another bedroom that was accessible by the children, and boxes and bags piled above a crib that appeared to be for the 2-year-old, creating a potential hazard should they topple over.

Because of the condition of the residence, the lack of parental supervision and the fact that authorities were not able to locate Jernigan, police said, the children were removed from the home and placed with relatives, and the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth was contacted.

Police said Jernigan finally returned to the apartment at approximately 10:40 p.m. in a “highly intoxicated state” and “did not appear concerned as to (her children’s) location or well-being,” and she was taken into custody.

Jernigan is scheduled to be formally arraigned on the four criminal counts on April 9.

Court records show Jernigan pleaded guilty in June of 2012 to misdemeanor endangering the welfare of children for leaving her then-infant child in her car for two hours on a freezing night the previous December after she got drunk inside a friend’s residence and passed out. She was sentenced to 193 days to 23 months in prison, followed by three years of probation, records show.

Jernigan is also awaiting trial on felony aggravated assault and a half-dozen related charges in connection with her arrest by North Wales police in September of 2012, according to court records. She failed to appear for her scheduled trial date in the case — it had been set for Oct. 8 of last year — and was briefly jailed before posting bond, court records show.

Jernigan has also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence multiple times since 2001, according to court records.