YOUNGSTOWN Agency takes custody of kids found in road

A Salem man who said he was gang-raped pleaded innocent to a falsification charge.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two young Austintown children who were found naked and running in North Raccoon Road on Nov. 25 have been placed in the custody of Mahoning County Children Services.
Judge Theresa Dellick of juvenile court ordered the placement Friday during arraignment of the children's mother, Neda Brimhall, 22, of North Raccoon Road.
Judge Dellick also ordered Brimhall to attend parenting classes and undergo psychological, drug, and alcohol testing pending her trial.
Cases combined: The case has been combined with another child-endangerment case against Brimhall, and a pre-trial hearing has been set for Jan. 9.
The children will remain in the custody of children services until Dellick orders otherwise.
Police said Brimhall's 1-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter were found in the street by residents at about 9:30 a.m. Nov. 25. The residents wrapped them in coats to keep them warm until police arrived.
Brimhall later signed an agreement giving children services custody of the children for 30 days.
The boy also had been found in the street Sept. 9 and the girl was almost hit by a car on North Raccoon Road Oct. 11.
As a result, Brimhall was charged with two counts of child endangerment. She has pleaded innocent. Police reports do not mention the children's father.
Falsification charge: Meanwhile, a Salem man who told police he was kidnapped and gang-raped last month pleaded innocent to a charge of falsification.
Joseph Hampson, 34, entered the plea in county court in Austintown. Police said Hampson admitted making the story up. A pre-trial hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Dec. 31.
A deputy sheriff found Hampson naked and walking down North Newton Falls Road about 2 a.m. Nov. 10. He told the officer he had been gang-raped and robbed by three men he'd seen inside a Youngstown adult video store.
He said he left the video store about midnight and ran out of gas in the 2400 block of North Newton Falls Road, and the three men offered him a ride to get gas.
He told authorities a gunman in the car robbed him of $350 and the men took turns sodomizing him in the back seat of their vehicle while driving around the township.
He told police he was let go on Newton Falls Road just north of Creed Road and had no luck waking sleeping residents for help, so he walked back toward his car.