Two Monessen parents broke the law when they left their 2-year-old twins trapped in a bedroom strewn with feces and infested with insects, a Westmoreland County prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.
Felicia Dugan, 31, and Jerimiah Roberts, 32, are on trial, accused of felony child endangerment. Prosecutors allege the children were found naked in an upstairs room where garbage and human waste covered the floors and walls.
“The law does not set parenting standards, but it does allow jurors to say this is not OK,” Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Ranger told jurors during her opening statement.
Erica Bair, Dugan’s mother, testified that, during a visit to the home June 10, 2024, she found the children in filthy conditions. Bair said, through her other daughter, she alerted police.
When Monessen police arrived, they directed Dugan to bathe the children and take them to a local hospital. Despite the conditions, witnesses said the children were deemed healthy and uninjured.
Defense lawyers for the parents said prosecutors cannot prove who was at fault for the children’s living conditions.
Attorney Jaclyn Shaw, representing Roberts, suggested it was Dugan who was the children’s primary caregiver. Roberts, she said, was on crutches recovering from a broken foot and unable to go upstairs.
“Consider the totality of circumstances, and is it one person who is putting in more effort,” Shaw said.
Assistant Public Defender Jonathan Nace, representing Dugan, told jurors she was not responsible for the condition of the children’s bedroom.
He told jurors video evidence recorded by police and Dugan’s mother did not tell the full story, noting Dugan was suffering from an illness and fell asleep downstairs before the room’s condition deteriorated.
“This is not a whodunnit. You’re going to question what happened,” Nace said, suggesting the children were at fault for the conditions in which they were found.
The trial before Common Pleas Judge Michael Stewart II will continue on Wednesday.