On Friday, May 23 at 10 a.m., Trooper J.E. Kopec responded to a call on Central Avenue in Parsons where a small child was not clothed and walking around the street unsupervised.
Kopec arrived shortly after, observing an unclothed child pedaling a bicycle on Central Avenue and approximately 75 yards from US219. The child only had on a diaper. The child crossed the street on a bike without looking and walked into an apartment nearby.
The child walked out of the apartment and Kopec asked the child where he lived. The child walked Kopec to his house which was approximately 100 to 150 yards away. Kopec observed all the doors to be open. Kopec knocked on the door for approximately one minute with no answer. Kopec asked the child to go get his mother.
The accused; Katie Worles, met Kopec at the front door and looked like she just woke up. Kopec asked why her child was out in the road with no clothing on and unsupervised. Worles stated she was asleep with the baby and did not know. The child was identified as her son and to be three and a half years old.
The Pittsburgh weather service stated the temperature in Parsons at 10 a.m. was 55 degrees. The danger of Worles’ son being run over was of great concern because the child was crossing the road not looking for traffic and was not wearing a helmet. The child was also observed by Kopec to be pedaling his bicycle in the road. All of these activities were unsupervised.
The child also had scrapes on his knees that appeared to be recent. Worles had been previously charged with this offense for the same type if incident on May 17, 2013. Worles was arrested for the crime of Child Neglect with risk of serious bodily injury or death, a felony.
