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Family service plan to replace charges
The mother was to find out today if she will regain custody of her baby.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A woman who police said left her baby on a doorstep in Union Township is no longer facing criminal charges.
Lelanie Gurley, 21, of Beaver Falls, left her 4-month-old son on the doorstep of a home on Grandview Avenue on Aug. 21, police said.
But her choice of residences was not random. The situation appeared to stem from a family dispute, said Union Township Patrolman Michael Mrozek.
Mrozek was the officer who responded to the call at 12:40 p.m. that day. He said the homeowner indicated a woman had called his house saying she’d left the baby on his porch.
The homeowner said he thought the call was a joke at first, Mrozek said. But when he discovered it was true, he called the 911 dispatch center.
The baby was unharmed, and the child was placed in foster care through Lawrence County Children and Youth Services, Mrozek said.
Mrozek said he got Gurley’s number from the homeowner’s caller ID and called her back.
She indicated at that time she left the baby because she wanted his father to take care of him, Mrozek said.
Mrozek said the homeowner is the father of the man Gurley says is her baby’s father.
Susan Papa, the juvenile master who presided over the emergency hearing to have the baby placed in a foster home, said she does not know if the child’s paternity is established.
She said she may know the answer to that question today. A more extensive hearing before Papa was set for 8:30 a.m. today, when it would be decided if Gurley would regain custody of her son.
Gurley had been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment of another person and disorderly conduct. A preliminary hearing had been set for Wednesday, but the case was withdrawn, Papa said.
She said after evaluating the defendant, it appears a family service plan is the way to go with the case.
“The service plan would be directed toward relieving her stresses as a single mother,” Papa said.
Papa said Gurley is completing studies to become a medical assistant, with one month to go before graduating.
Papa said a fight with the baby’s purported father preceded the baby’s being left on the doorstep.
“This girl made a terrible mistake, and she regrets it,” Mrozek said.