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2 arraigned on child endangering charges
By Sarah Lehr
STRUTHERS
Two people were arraigned on child-endangering charges in Struthers Municipal Court for the purported abuse of a 5-year-old girl.
Lisa Marenkovic, 27, and Bill Geidner, 27, both of Struthers, also each face a charge of obstructing justice. Geidner also is charged with violating the terms of his parole.
They are in the Mahoning County jail on bonds exceeding $100,000, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.
Markenkovic, the child’s mother, and Geidner, Marenkovic’s boyfriend, were booked into the jail after police searched their Fourth Street home on a warrant Monday.
School officials raised concerns about bruises on the girl’s body, a police report states, and about the fact the girl hadn’t attended school since Jan. 22.
The girl had returned to living with Marenkovic after living with her maternal grandmother due to Marenkovic’s drug addiction, a police report states.
The grandmother has since died, according to police.
Police reported that Geidner and Marenkovic tried to hide when officers kicked in the home’s door. The girl had visible bruises and appeared malnourished, police said, adding there were “deplorable conditions” in the home and that it is unsafe.
Mahoning County Children Services obtained custody of the child on an emergency basis after the arrests Monday.
21 WFMJ-TV reported the girl is hospitalized and receiving treatment for various injuries.
Geidner had been arrested several times previously, according to online court records, on charges including domestic violence, drug abuse and theft.
Court records show Marenkovic was sentenced through Youngstown Municipal Court in 2007 for a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug-abuse instruments.
She also was sentenced in 2009 through the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on a misdemeanor charge for misuse of a credit card in Austintown.