Judge opens files on endangerment

Criminal records of people charged with endangering children, but later convicted of a lesser charge, should be kept unsealed "in the interest of justice," Watertown City Court Judge James C. Harberson has ruled.

In a pair of rulings issued last week, Judge Harberson concluded that the records of people charged with endangering children should be kept open "so someone in the future who considers entrusting the care of a child to one of these defendants can decide for themself if they each can be trusted."

The judge considered four endangering cases, including one in which he already had allowed the defendant to withdraw a guilty plea to a lesser violation because she was not aware when she entered her plea that the record could remain open, possibly hurting her future employment, education or professional licensing opportunities.

In that case, the woman admitted leaving an 18-month-old child strapped in a car seat for more than 25 minutes while she went tanning. Judge Harberson said the case was made worse because the woman lied to a police officer investigating the incident by telling the officer someone else in another vehicle was watching the child, although witnesses said no one else was around.

The judge said "she clearly put her own interests ahead of those of the child" and ordered that the record of the conduct remain unsealed with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. Under state law, a judge can use his discretion in determining whether records of cases that are plea-bargained from a crime to a violation are sealed.

Using this decision, Judge Harberson then considered the cases of three other women charged with endangering children. One had left her children, ages 7 and 5, alone in a running truck while she went into her work to pick up training materials, even though she knew the 7-year-old had a propensity to start and operate the vehicle. The youth did attempt to operate the truck, driving it into a building, then moving it backward toward the exit of a parking lot and "out onto a busy public street." A police officer observed the incident and stopped the vehicle.

A second woman admitted she left her three children, ages 9, 2 and eight months, in a locked vehicle in a store parking lot for more than 10 minutes. The vehicle was running with the air conditioning on and the woman said she felt justified in leaving the children alone "because the dark windows keep anyone from seeing the children inside the car" and she would do so only "in a parking lot where there are not a lot of other people, like a large store's lot."

A third case involved a woman leaving her children, ages 10, 4 and 18 months, home alone about 10:30 p.m. while she "went out" until 2 a.m. She told police she had expected to be gone for only about 15 minutes and had awakened the 10-year-old to "inform him he was in charge."

In the first case, Judge Harberson ruled that it was an "unreasonably dangerous situation" to leave two children in a running vehicle in a parking lot, particularly given that the 7-year-old would operate the truck "when he was given a chance." The judge said the mother also exposed the children to the risk of a child predator or a car thief.

In the second case, he said the "most aggravating factor" was that the mother expected a 9-year-old to care for an 8-month-old, "not to mention a two-year-old child." He termed this "inherently dangerous behavior." He said leaving the children in a vehicle, where dark windows prevent a passerby from being able to see if the kids are in distress, also created a dangerous situation.

In the final case, Judge Harberson said that to expect a 10-year-old to stay awake after 10 p.m. to watch over two young children is "unreasonable" and should not be tolerated.

In ordering the cases to remain unsealed, the judge considered the explanation each gave for their actions, as well as subsequent steps each has taken to avoid similar problems in the future. However, Judge Harberson said the question "still remains" whether any such rehabilitative measures will prevent the women from placing a child at risk in the future, which is why he concluded it best to leave each of their records listed with the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

By doing so, anyone with an interest in allowing the women to care for a child in the future can learn of the incident, as well as the location of the local court where the case was heard if they desire further details.

"This will enable one to make an informed decision about any risk to a child left within defendant's care," Judge Harberson wrote in his decisions.

Judge Harberson's decisions have been chosen for publication by the state Law Reporting Bureau, which provides a legal reference for attorneys and jurists facing similar cases.