Wooden box in cellar leads to child endangerment charges

GUILDERLAND — A Guilderland mother and her oldest child were arrested on April 21 and charged with endangering the welfare of a child — specifically, the welfare of the family’s younger children.

Twenty-year-old Julian Nich Christiano, police say, built a wooden box in the basement of his home at 7 Willey St., to discipline his younger siblings, according to his arrest report. His mother, Stephanie Bernade Ford, 41, of the same address, did not build the box or use it for discipline, but she also did not do anything to stop it from being built, according to her arrest report.

The police received a call from Child Protective Services and assisted that organization with its investigation, which led to the arrests, said Assistant Chief Curtis Cox.

Orders of protection were issued against both Christiano and Ford, to protect the other children in the house, according to the reports. Cox did not have any further information about the orders of protection.

Attorney April Dalbec, with the Albany firm of McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams — who is not related to the case — was asked if “not stopping” someone from building a box was a crime. She said that according to New York Penal Law, a parent has an affirmative responsibility to protect the children in his or her custody.

You can be charged with endangering the welfare of a child if you “knowingly act in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental, or moral welfare of a child, so, if these children  are being threatened, and mom isn’t protecting them and stopping the oldest son from his conduct, then she can be charged,” said Dalbec.

She also noted that there are two types of orders of protection. One is a full stay-away order, in which the mother and son would need to leave the home and refrain from contacting the younger children. The other is a refrain-from order, in which they would not need to leave the home, but in which they would need to refrain from any future criminal conduct.

Christiano and Ford are next due in Guilderland Town Court on June 23. They could not be reached for comment.

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