Parents in Westmoreland County accused of child abuse, police say children are malnourished

UNITY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two parents from Westmoreland County are accused of extreme child abuse. Police said both of their children are malnourished and neglected.

State police charged 31-year-old Heather Johnson and and 27-year-old Jordan Heidt after they say the parent’s 1-year-old child was unable to sit up properly or control his neck.

Court documents said the baby is flat on one side of its head and has the muscle mass of a 1-month-old infant.

The second child is a 2-year-old girl, and her muscle mass is also very low, according to police. They said she could not walk or stand on her own.

The mother told Channel 11 the whole situation was a misunderstanding.

“It took me seven months to get insurance, and by the time I get insurance, the state wants to come in and take my kids,” said Johnson.

Johnson said she took her son to Children’s Hospital when he became sick.

“(We) went to the doctor, and they did nothing about it. They said, ‘Just feed him more. He’ll be fine,’” said Johnson. “Then we take him to Children’s Hospital, and they want to sit there and say, ‘You need to be giving him PediaSure.’”

Johnson also offered an explanation for her 2-year-old’s inability to walk.

“She has an issue with her bone structure in her legs because she was born like that. She was in the NICU for 10 days when she was born because she couldn’t breathe,” Johnson explained. “All I got to say is, anybody that wants to sit there and come at me for something that I didn’t do wrong, you know your facts before you start saying anything.”

Police were notified about the children after a ChildLine report.

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