Three arrested for allegedly taking five girls from foster care
Three men are in the Fayette County Prison, accused of helping five girls run away from their Latrobe foster home and bringing them to Uniontown.
Joseph William Sickler, 41, of Pittsburgh; Erik Sean-Michael Spaziani, 18, of Charleroi; and Jacques Johns Jr., 18, of Uniontown allegedly picked up the girls around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday from the home, and drove around with them most of the night, before ending up at a home in Lenox Street.
Three of the girls, 7-, 11- and 12-year-old sisters, were taken to the Uniontown police station Wednesday evening when they realized they had all be reported missing, state police Trooper Stefani Plume said.
Their elder sister, a 17-year-old, and the teen’s 1-year-old daughter were picked up by police at the Lenox Street home, Plume said.
The girls have been identified as Brittney Dainty, 17, and her 1-year-old daughter Nevaeh; Dnaielle Dainty, 12; Cassie Dainty, 11; and Hannah Dainty, 7.
Plume said the girls got into a car with Sickler, Spaziani and Johns willingly, as at least one of the sisters knew the men.
Police took Sickler and Spaziani into custody Wednesday evening at the Lenox Street home in the city, and Johns turned himself into police Thursday.
Each is charged with five counts each of interference of the custody of children and conspiracy, and concealment of the whereabouts of a child. Magisterial District Judge Michael M. Metros set a $25,000 bond for each, and all were lodged in the county lockup.
Plume said it is still unclear if additional charges will be filed against the men for anything that might have occurred in Westmoreland County. The girls were turned over to Washington County Children and Youth Services, Plume said.
All three face preliminary hearings on May 20.