JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP / FOX 26) - A Pennsylvania couple has been charged with duct-taping a 4-year-old girl's hands and stuffing her in garbage bag as punishment for soiling herself.
Johnstown police say the girl was then left in the bag in a dark, unheated basement. The investigation also revealed that Newman smeared the girl's feces on her face.
Authorities say the punishment happened Nov. 16 and was discovered when the girl was taken to a hospital with liver trauma and other injuries two days later.
Thirty-four-year-old Kristopher Newman and 31-year-old Crystal Jedrzejek are charged with child endangerment, corruption of minors and disorderly conduct. Newman is also charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The corruption of a minor charge was added when during the course of the investigation police discovered that the girl's 2 brothers witnessed the "punishment".
It's been discovered that Newman may have a history of hurting young children. In nearby Somerset County, an investigation is ongoing regarding an incident in 2008 that he allegedly hit a 2 year old in the stomach so hard that she was sent to the hospital with injuries resembling the impact of a car accident.
The 4 year old is recovering from her injuries. Detective Mark Britton of the Johnstown Police Department told FOX 26 that when he went to see the girl in the hospital, that despite being covered in bruises head to toe, she greeted him with a big smile, "just a beautiful, beautiful child."
While the young girl is recovering from physical injuries, there's need for more healing in her future. Detective Briton told us that hospital workers said that during her first few days at the hospital, she drank a lot of much needed water and Gatorade, but didn't go to the bathroom for fear of "getting into trouble”.
Newman remains in the Cambria County jail, on three felony charges and several misdemeanor charges. The mother, Crystal Jedrzejek, was freed on $5,000 bond; she is cooperating with the police on this investigation.
They both face a preliminary hearing Dec. 10.