Tarentum woman faces felony charges after police say 3-year-old found wandering outside

A Tarentum woman was charged with three felony counts of child endangerment after police say bystanders found her 3-year-old daughter wandering outside after the woman left the girl at home alone.

Leah Marie Frantz, 30, of the 300 block of West 10th Avenue, faces a preliminary hearing on the charges before District Judge Carolyn Bengel on June 15, according to court records.

Police were dispatched to the corner of Western Street and West 10th Avenue shortly before 4 p.m. on April 28 where they found two women with the girl, who was crying for her mother, according to a criminal complaint.

The girl was wearing only one shoe and appeared to have lice eggs “all over her head and scalp,” police said.

An officer who has had previous contact with Frantz went to her home and found a rear door open, the complaint said, but nobody responded when he called out.

Officers who were waiting with the girl said an 8-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl got off a school bus nearby and identified her as their sister.

The 10-year-old called Frantz, who told her she would be home in five minutes, the complaint said. Police said they waited more than 15 minutes before Frantz arrived home.

Frantz told police she discovered she was suffering from a hernia and asked a friend to drive her to a hospital for treatment, according to the complaint.

She apologized to police for the leaving the toddler alone before the older children came home from school, the complaint said.

Police left the children with Frantz and filed a report with a county social services agency, according to the complaint.

Court records show that Tarentum police had charged Frantz with three felony counts of child endangerment on Sept. 19, 2021, and that the charges were withdrawn.