A Cumberland County man was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a child.
Joshua Ryan Kitner, 29, entered the plea Tuesday, Sept. 22. Two counts of aggravated assault involving a child were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Pennsylvania State Police responded to a home on Steelstown Road in North Newton Township on Jan. 25 after receiving a report of a child with frostbite injuries.
First responders found a 2-year-old girl suffering from hypothermia and severe frostbite. Court documents stated that the child had been outside during a winter storm while wearing a T-shirt and diaper. The area received about 12 inches of snow.
Investigators determined that Kitner was the child’s sole caretaker at the time. Kitner told investigators that he had consumed eight or nine beers the previous night and fell asleep for several hours because he was hungover.
Kitner said he awoke around 5 p.m. and found the child outside with the family’s dog. The girl was reportedly sitting on the ground and falling asleep, with her feet appearing frozen and purple.
The child was transported to Lehigh Valley Medical Center, where she remained for one week. She was diagnosed with stage-four frostbite on both feet and stage-three frostbite on the fingers of her right hand.
