BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — New details have emerged surrounding a case involving a Mayport woman facing one count of child endangerment after an incident at Giant Eagle in Brookville.
According to a criminal complaint, Brookville Police Officer Turnbull was dispatched to Giant Eagle on White Street around 1:28 p.m., on Wednesday, June 21, regarding an incident in which a minor was wearing a diaper and a sign around his neck.
The complaint states that when Officer Turnbull arrived, he saw a small white, juvenile male standing with no pants on, wearing a diaper and a sign that stated ” My name is (name omitted). I am six-years-old, I peed my pants and thought it was funny. So, my grandma put a diaper on me.”
Officer Turnbull asked the female, who was later identified as 48-year-old Rebecca Jean Martz, of Mayport, what was going on, and she said to read the sign. Turnbull then told Martz that it was highly inappropriate, the complaint indicates.
Martz said it wasn’t and stated, “Ask any judge. They give these punishments all the time,” according to the complaint.
Officer Turnbull asked Martz which judge approved this, and she would not give a name, only continuing to say that “these punishments are given all the time,” the complaint continues.
Officer Turnbull told Martz that she was publicly shaming a child, and it is completely inappropriate. Martz said to Officer Turnbull, “You are not a parent. You would not understand,” the complaint states.
Martz said she is the grandmother and that Officer Turnbull “would have no idea what he has put her through,” the complaint indicates.
Officer Turnbull then called Jefferson County Child and Youth Services and was told a worker would be down shortly.
While Officer Turnbull was on the scene, three people contacted him and asked him to help the child and said they felt it was horrible to publicly shame a child.
According to the complaint, while waiting for a CYS worker to arrive, Officer Turnbull said the boy asked to be allowed to put his shorts on more than six occasions and was told ‘No’ by Martz.
Officer Turnbull then took the boy into protective custody around 1:50 p.m. and placed him in the back seat of his police cruiser with a shirt over his lap and the air conditioning running. Officer Turnbull stated that he asked Martz to give him the blue shorts she had, and she told him that he could not have them for the boy to put on, the complaint states.
A review of video from the establishment showed the boy arriving at the property around 12:40 p.m. with several other children and another adult. “The boy walked around (Giant Eagle) with the sign pulled tight to his thighs appearing to attempt to cover him from other people seeing his diaper due to embarrassment,” according to the complaint.
According to court documents, on June 27, the Brookville Borough Police Department filed criminal charges against 48-year-old Rebecca Jean Martz, of Mayport, in District Judge Gregory Bazylak’s office.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled at Judge Bazylak’s office for 2:30 p.m., Thursday, August 17.
She faces a first-degree misdemeanor charge of Endangering the Welfare of Children.
