A Pennsylvania father has avoided jail after his 2-year-old daughter was found outside in a snowstorm wearing only a T-shirt and diaper, suffering frostbite so severe that her feet had turned purple and nearly black.
Joshua Ryan Kitner, 29, of Newville, pleaded guilty Sept. 22 to endangering the welfare of a child.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped two aggravated assault counts involving a child. Kitner was sentenced to two years of probation.
The case stems from a terrifying incident on Jan. 25 in North Newton Township.
Pennsylvania State Police were called to a home on Steelstown Road after emergency crews found a 2-year-old girl suffering from hypothermia and severe frostbite during a winter storm.
Authorities said the area had received roughly a foot of snow.
According to an affidavit cited by PEOPLE, Kitner was the only adult caring for his daughter at the time.
He told investigators he had consumed eight or nine beers the night before and had become “buzzed,” leaving him exhausted the following day.
Kitner said he eventually fell asleep for several hours.
During that time, police believe the toddler may have let the family’s 3-month-old puppy outside and then accidentally locked herself out of the house.
When Kitner woke up shortly after 5 p.m., he told police he found his daughter outside with the puppy.
The little girl was reportedly sitting on the ground and beginning to doze off.
Kitner told investigators her feet and toes were “frozen and purple, almost black in color.”
She had apparently been outside for an unknown amount of time in brutal winter conditions while wearing nothing more than a shirt and diaper.
The injuries were severe.
Authorities said the toddler suffered fourth-degree frostbite to both feet and third-degree frostbite to the fingers on her right hand. Her feet were blue and purple when emergency workers arrived.
She was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to the burn unit at Lehigh Valley Medical Center.
The girl remained hospitalized for about a week and then required follow-up care at the burn center for more than a month.
Kitner was arrested in May and initially faced two felony aggravated assault charges in addition to the child-endangerment count.
Those assault charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement that resulted in his probation sentence.
The case drew attention because of the severity of the toddler’s injuries and the circumstances surrounding how she allegedly ended up outside alone during a snowstorm.
Despite those injuries, Kitner will not serve prison time under the plea deal.
