Three arrested for allegedly taking five girls from foster care
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Trooper James Garlick leads Erik Sean-Michael Spaziani to a waiting police car Wednesday night, after he was arrested in Uniontown for his role in allegedly helping five girls run away for a foster home in Latrobe.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
A state police trooper leads Joseph William Sickler away from the Fayette County Booking Center Wednesday night, after he was arrested in Uniontown for allegedly helping five girls run away from a foster home in Latrobe.
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 in a van around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday from the home and drove around with them most of the night, before ending up at a home at 64 Lenox St.
Three of the girls, 7-, 11- and 12-year-old sisters, were taken to a CVS pharmacy and then walked to the nearby city police station Wednesday evening when they realized they had all been reported missing, according to court papers filed by state police Trooper James Garlick. Police said Sickler walked the girls about halfway to the station from the drug store.
Their elder sister, a 17-year-old, and the teen’s 2-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 2-year-old daughter, Nevaeh; Danielle Dainty, 12; Cassie Dainty, 11; and Hannah Dainty, 7.
Trooper Stefani 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, and Johns turned himself in to police Thursday.
Each is charged with five counts of interference with 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 placed 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.
An affidavit of probable cause filed in the case indicated that the girls were put into the foster system by the Washington County agency, but they were sent to a foster home in Westmoreland County.
All three of the men charged face preliminary hearings Tuesday.