NEWTON FALLS, Ohio (WKBN) – A man and woman are facing charges after a 2-year-old child and a baby were reportedly left alone in a Newton Falls apartment complex.
Tiffany Dolin, 35, was booked into the Trumbull County Jail Tuesday on child endangering charges. Dustin Young, 33, had been arrested previously in the case on the same charges.
According to a report from the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to the apartments in the 600 block of Ridge Rd. on Dec. 30 after reports that residents there found a toddler alone in a hallway.
Deputies spoke with a man and a woman who lived in the complex who told them that the girl had been crying so they went out to help her. They said the girl told them that her father took her mother to work. They told deputies that they each sat with the child for over 20 minutes.
The couple told police that when the girl’s father returned, he took the girl from them but said nothing, going into his own apartment.
According to the report, deputies questioned Young, the father of the child. He told them that he left for a “few minutes” to get diapers and that his daughter must have unlocked the door. Deputies said Young admitted to also taking his wife to work, but they said he told them it had been earlier, making it sound like two separate occasions. He said he didn’t take the girl with him then, the report stated.
Young told deputies that the girl is usually fine when she is left home but that she must have figured out how to unlock the door, according to the report. Deputies said when questioned about this statement, Young admitted that he “sometimes” leaves the girl alone, though not regularly.
Deputies noted that as they were talking to Young, they heard a baby crying inside. Young then admitted that he left the 6-month-old baby home alone as well, the report stated.
Deputies said Young was nonchalant about the situation while they were questioning him. They placed him under arrest, and the children were given to family members for the night.
Dolin, identified in the report as the mother, was later arrested in the case.
Young pleaded not guilty to the charges and was ordered to have no contact with the children, except under the authority of Children Services. He is set to appear in court again at 11 a.m. Jan. 26, according to court records.