Women sentenced in case of filthy house

AUSTINTOWN — Two of four adults who were charged in June after five children were removed from a filthy home were sentenced after pleading guilty in Mahoning County Court here.

Michelle Banks, 26, the mother of one of the children, and Jeanette Banks, 54, grandmother of all five, appeared in court Wednesday morning.

Their cases were set for trial, but the women changed their pleas from not guilty to guilty.

Michelle Banks was charged with child endangering, and Jeanette, her mother, was charged with complicity.

The charges stem from a raid at the family’s home at 212 Westminster Ave. in June. Township police and the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force raided the home to look for stolen goods. While there, they discovered two 2-year-old girls, a 7-month-old girl, and two boys, 7 and 10, living in squalid conditions with no running water. The children were placed in foster care by Mahoning County Children Services.

The women were sentenced to 180 days in jail with 150 suspended and placed on 12 months’ probation.

Two other adults who lived at the home, Boyd Kopsic, 34, and Jason Webb, 27, were also charged with endangering. Kopsic is the father of four of the children; Webb of one. They were sentenced in August to 180-day jail terms with 120 days suspended.