Nicole Sciortino, a 30-year old mother of two children (an 11-year old boy and 10-year old girl) decided to let her children fend for themselves during winter while she went on vacation to Florida.
The article does not say how long she planned to be away, but police intervened 3 days later. Police received a report about children left alone, and on showed up to Sciortino’s house on March 07.
Police said “the place was in ‘deplorable’ condition”; they found it covered in trash, pizza boxes, food, clothes and pills. The house thermostat read 58 degrees, and the 11-year old boy was wearing a winter coat. [Prior to leaving, the mother had taught the 11-year old how to put water in the furnace to generate heat].
<< The first day of spring is March 20, so at least she waited until the last few days of winter to leave them - Mighty thoughtful of her!>>.
The mother would call the kids in the morning to wake them up for school. After getting dressed they would go to the bus stop, then eat breakfast at the school (if they could get it). The daughter told police she would communicate with her mom with an iPad device using the “Face Time” app.
When the police were able to get ahold of the mother, she initially told them she was nearby. She then confessed that she was vacationing in Florida and that the children’s father was watching them.
The children’s father, Vincent Licciardello (also 30 years old), dropped off the kids at Sciortino’s house on March 05. Over the next 3 days, Licciardello would occasionally stop by to drop off food before leaving again. When the police called the father, he hung up on them, refusing to get the children. He later told the police that the mother did not want the children sleeping over at his house. He also claimed his car broke down so he couldn’t check on the kids more often.
<<whaddya think I’m a mechanic?!>>
The mother, Sciortino, told told police that she didn't realize it was against the law to leave her two children home alone unsupervised for an extended period of time and added that she, "didn't think it was really that bad."
<<You make a big deal outta nothin’! Don’t be upsetti, eat some spaghetti!>>
In the movie “Home Alone II”, the parents also travel to Florida. The difference was that they didn’t intentionally leave the little boy by himself.
Parents of the year!
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Link and text of articles below:
http://www.miamiherald.com/article205975804.html
Kids left in cold, dirty house as mom vacationed. She didn’t think it was ‘that bad,’ Penn. cops say
By Josh Magness
jmagness@mcclatchy.com
March 20, 2018 09:18 AM | Updated March 20, 2018 10:57 AM
Nicole Sciortino said she didn’t know it was illegal.
The 30-year-old mother of two faces four counts of endangering the welfare of children after police say she left her two kids — ages 10 and 11 — alone at their home in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, while she vacationed in Florida. She taught her 11-year-old son how to put water in the furnace to generate heat, according to The Times-Tribune, and headed off for her trip down south.
The boy and his 10-year-old sister told police that their mother would call them in the morning to wake them up for school, the Times Tribune reported. Then they would pick out their own clothes before heading to the bus stop, police allege, and would only have breakfast if they could get it at school.
Local officers arrived at Sciortino’s house on March 7 after receiving a call about children who were left there unsupervised, according to court documents obtained by WNEP. Cops say they found the two children in a house that was just 58 degrees — with the 11-year-old wearing a winter coat inside — and covered in trash, pizza boxes, food, clothes and pills.
The girl used an iPad to FaceTime her mother, who first told officers that she was nearby. She later confessed to being in Florida, according to WNEP, and said that the children’s father, who lived at another address, was watching them. Police allege that 30-year-old Vincent Licciardello, their father, dropped the kids off at their mother’s house on March 5 and returned every once in a while over the next few days to give them food before leaving again.
Officers then called Licciardello. According to the Times-Tribune, he hung up on police after refusing to get the children. He later argued that Sciortino didn’t want the kids to sleep at his place, police say, and his car broke down so he couldn’t check on the kids more often.
Vincent Licciardello, the children’s father, would drop food off for his children before leaving them alone at their mother’s house while she vacationed in Florida, police allege.
Dunmore Police
During a March 12 interview at Dunmore police headquarters, Sciortino allegedly told officers that she didn’t think it was illegal or “really that bad” to leave her two preteens home alone, WNEP reported. On Monday, police charged her and Licciardello with four counts of endangering the welfare of children.
They are both out of jail on $10,000 unsecured bail.
Other parents have been accused of doing the same thing.
In Tennessee, a 22-year-old mother is accused of leaving her 2-year-old daughter alone in a room while she took a trip. Cassie Scales was caught, police say, after she called a neighbor during a trip, asking whether they would check in on her 2-year-old daughter who was home alone.
That neighbor called police, who allege Scales locked the child alone in a bedroom while the Tennessee mother took her 3-month-old on a trip along with a friend on Jan. 12.
Police say Erin Lee Macke, a 30-year-old mother from Iowa, took it one step further and left her children alone for an international vacation. Macke left the United States on Sept. 20, planning to return nearly two weeks later on Oct. 1, and left her children — one 6-year-old, one 7-year-old and two 12-year-olds — alone at their house with no one to watch over them.
She told authorities that none of her babysitters could watch the kids, so she just decided to leave her two preteens in charge, police say.
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http://wnep.com/2018/03/19/police-mom-in-florida-children-home-alone/
Police: Mom in Florida, Children Home Alone
POSTED 3:35 PM, MARCH 19, 2018, BY CHASE SENIOR, UPDATED AT 03:36PM, MARCH 19, 2018
DUNMORE, Pa. -- A mother and a father are charged with endangering the welfare of their two children in Lackawanna County.
Investigators say the two children were knowingly left alone in Dunmore for nearly three days while the mother was in Florida.
Nicole Sciortino, 30, and Vincent Licciardello, 30, were both arraigned Monday morning on those neglect charges.
Sciortino told police that she didn't realize it was against the law to leave her two children home alone unsupervised for an extended period of time and added that she, "didn't think it was really that bad."
According to court papers, on Wednesday, March 7, Dunmore police responded to the home on Monroe Avenue after receiving a report of children who had been left alone for weeks. When officers arrived, they found a 10 year old and an 11 year old home by themselves. Police say the place was in deplorable condition, with food, boxes, pills, and other trash on the floor. The thermostat read 58 degrees.
Police were able to contact the mother of the two children, Nicole Sciortino. She first told them she wasn't far away, but later admitted to police that she was in Florida. She told investigators that the children's father, Vincent Licciardello, who lives elsewhere, was watching the kids.
During the investigation, police found that on Monday, March 5, Licciardello dropped the kids off at their mother's house early in the morning. Over the next three days, while their mother was in Florida, he would occasionally stop by to drop food off for the unsupervised children.
Newswatch 16 spoke with a few people who work in the area. They were floored to hear about the accusations.
At the time of the investigation, police say one child had missed 16 days of school, while the other had missed 26 days since the start of the school year.
"That hurts. I'm a mom of five kids. I couldn't imagine leaving my kids for 10 minutes without an adult supervisor," said Tamra Murphy. "Who's feeding them? Who's washing their clothes? Who's making sure their homework is done? That upsets me beyond it. That hurts me."
"That's insane to me," said Kaylia Riley. "I mean, at the end of the day, I couldn't even leave my dogs for three days by themselves, let alone children, especially small children. It's just mind-blowing."
Sciortino and Licciardello were both charged Monday with endangering the welfare of children. Both were given $10,000 unsecured bail, so both walked free.
Investigators tell us the two children are staying with family friends through child youth services.
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