Latrobe day care owner's appeal rejected

A judge has rejected an appeal from the former owner of a Latrobe day care who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for endangering the welfare of children by allowing a convicted sex offender access to the minors at her business.

Lisa Knecht, 59, of Derry, was convicted in 2015 of 11 felony counts of child endangerment. Police said she knew that her husband had previously been convicted of sex offenses against juveniles and still allowed him to be in contact with children enrolled at the Bright Beginnings Day Care Center between 2007 to 2011.

The business was shuttered the same day Knecht was arrested in 2012.

Knecht contended in her appeal that her defense lawyer did not properly represent her at the trial. Specifically, she said her lawyer should have prevented parents of the children in her care from testifying against her. She also said her husband and daughter should have been called testify on her behalf to mitigate the testimony from other witnesses. She also claimed her defense lawyer erred by not seeking to have the judge recused from the case.

In a 33-page opinion filed Wednesday, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway ruled there was no basis for appeal.

Hathaway said testimony from the children’s parents was permissible.

“The testimony of parents and employees of the day care was certainly relevant and highly probative of whether the defendant committed the offense of endangering the welfare of children by allowing Donald Knecht to be in the children’s presence,” Hathaway wrote.

Donald Knecht, 64, served two five-year probation terms, one stemming from a 1989 arrest for molesting a young girl in Virginia and the second after a 1996 lewdness incident in New Jersey, both offenses that predate more recent allegations in Pennsylvania.

He pleaded guilty in 2012 to rape and sexual assault connection with charges he molested two children, ages 9 and 7, and was sentenced in Westmoreland County to serve up to 25 years in prison.

In court ruling, Hathaway said testimony from Donald Knecht would likely have not helped his wife’s case at trial because of his prior criminal record.