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WILKES-BARRE — The mother and grandmother of a 2-year-old boy treated for heat exhaustion after the pair left him inside a sweltering car last summer as they shopped were sentenced Wednesday to probation.
The child’s mother, Rosemine Chery, 29, of Wilkes-Barre, received two years in the program while his maternal grandmother, Marie Lourdes Francois, 57, also of Wilkes-Barre, received 1½ years.
Chery was charged with endangering the welfare of a child for leaving the boy unattended for nearly a half hour outside Price Chopper in Wilkes-Barre Township last July 31. Francois was later charged with reckless endangerment. Both women pleaded guilty to their respective charges last month.
Police said the heat inside the car caused the child’s temperature to rise to 102 degrees before a bystander was able to open the driver’s-side door through the partially opened window. The air temperature at the time was about 81 degrees, police noted.
The child was sweating profusely and had to be rushed to an area hospital where he was treated for heat exhaustion, police said. He was released and placed under the custody of Luzerne County Children & Youth Services.
Chery eventually emerged from inside the store after multiple attempts to page her, police said. Her attorney later claimed a language barrier prevented her from understanding the attempts to reach her, however.
Chery sobbed to the point that she began to hyperventilate and threw herself onto the ground when police tried to question her about the child, they said. Francois, meanwhile, watched the developing scene from a distance.
Surveillance footage secured from the shopping center shows the two exiting their parked vehicle at 1:22 p.m. Bystanders begin to circle around the vehicle about 27 minutes later. The child was freed from the vehicle around 1:54 p.m., according to police. A woman removed the child’s shirt and gave him water before emergency crews arrived.
Chery and Francois are permitted contact with the child only through Luzerne County Children & Youth or with a third party approved by the agency, Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas ordered.