Jeannette woman arrested in child abuse, stalking cases

A Jeannette woman is accused by city police of pushing a 4-year-old girl down a flight of stairs in a basket and sending nude photos of a former boyfriend to his family and friends, according to court papers.

Brittany Renee Zimmerman, 26, was arrested Friday in two cases. She is charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment, simple assault and reckless endangerment in the abuse case. Charges of stalking, invasion of privacy and unlawful dissemination of intimate images were filed last week.

Police were called in February when the child was hospitalized with several injuries after authorities said Zimmerman was watching her. The child had a bruise and cut on her forehead and several other scrapes and bruises all over her body, some of which appeared to be in various stages of healing, police said.

Doctors said the injuries all were indicative of child abuse. The girl told investigators in June about several alleged instances of abuse involving Zimmerman, including being pushed down the staircase while in a basket.

Last month, a man told police that Zimmerman hacked into his Facebook account and sent to his family and friends a nude photo of him that she had taken during their relationship, according to court papers.

Zimmerman is being held at the Westmoreland County Prison in lieu of $15,000 bond in the child abuse case and an Aug. 20 preliminary hearing is set. She was released on $10,000 unsecured bond in the privacy case and a Sept. 10 preliminary hearing is set.

She was arraigned Thursday and released on $25,000 unsecured bond on conspiracy, criminal mischief and false reports charges filed last month by Greensburg police in connection with a June alleged incident, according to online court records.

Her attorney could not immediately be reached.