Mom accused of flashing inmates as her kids played now faces prison time, PA judge says
A Pennsylvania mom was sentenced to prison time after authorities said she flashed inmates while her kids played nearby.
The 36-year-old woman from Elizabethtown took her two children — aged 8 and 12 — with her to the Lancaster County Prison on Sept. 16, 2021, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Officials said the woman went to see a specific inmate, got on top of her car and “exposed her breasts.”
Inmates within the prison began yelling and could still be heard when police arrived on the scene, authorities said. Police reported finding the woman lying on top of her car with her children in the backseat. During the incident, officials said her kids “were running around the car and swinging from a speed limit sign.”
In court, the prosecutor argued that the woman “showed no remorse, was belligerent toward the responding officers, who were just there to do their jobs, and bragged about her behavior afterward,” per the court statement.
The defense argued against prison time, saying the woman “needed to care for her children,” according to the release.
In response, Lancaster County Judge Thomas Sponaugle said, “I don’t think people are able to use their children as shields from going to jail.”
The jury deliberated for eight minutes before finding her guilty of open lewdness. Sponaugle sentenced the woman to prison time between two months and a year, according to the release.
This story was originally published June 30, 2022 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Mom accused of flashing inmates as her kids played now faces prison time, PA judge says."
