Pennsylvania mother escapes further prison sentence for leaving her children alone in deplorable conditions

WILLIAMSPORT – A Williamsport mother will not have to spend more time in prison for abandoning her two young children in deplorable conditions, but she will have to successfully complete her mental health court proceedings, earn her high school diploma (GED) and find a job.

This was part of the sentence imposed by Lycoming County Judge Nancy L. Butts on Tuesday against 32-year-old Crystal Jennifer Zamorski.

She pleaded guilty in July to one count of endangering the welfare of children and a second count of recklessly endangering another person. Other charges were dropped under the agreement.

Butts sentenced Zamorski to one to two years minus one day in prison for endangerment, but released her on probation because she had served the minimum sentence.

The judge gave her a five-year suspended sentence and required her to perform 50 hours of community service, along with conditions that included a trial against psychiatric hospitals.

The ban on any direct contact with their children living with distant family members has been extended for six months, after which it can be reviewed again.

Butts was pleased with the programs Zamorski completed during her stay at the county release center, but warned her that she could go to state prison if she violated her probation.

A co-defendant, Destiney Elizabeth Kellar, was sentenced in May to 9 to 23 months in county jail after pleading guilty to one count of endangerment.

The two were charged after city police executed a search warrant on their Hepburn Street apartment on July 12, 2023, after neighbors heard screaming.

They found Zamorski's two children, then 9 and 2 years old, alone in a small bedroom that was locked from the outside, with human feces on the floor and walls. According to police, a 1-year-old child was also in the apartment.

According to court documents, the older child was naked, both were covered in feces, and the bedroom had two beds with no pillows or blankets. Mold and vermin were observed in the apartment.

Kellar and Zamorski returned home while police were still there and said they visited Zamorski's husband, George, in prison.

When questioned by police, both women admitted to locking the two older children in a room at least once a day and leaving them and the youngest child unattended, the documents say.

The charges against Zamorski in the second case were the result of findings made by a social worker from the county's child and youth welfare office during two visits in August 2022.

During the first visit, a wooden latch was discovered on the outside door of the room where her children were sleeping.

When the social worker returned after another report of the children being barricaded, she found bricks on a table and a second table behind it blocking the door.

Zamorski reportedly told police she did this to keep the children in their room and prevent them from running around.

Police described the conditions during these visits as unsanitary and hazardous to the children's health. They found that the children were dirty and there was excrement everywhere.