Apr 12, 2018 2 min read

MONESSEN – A Monessen woman and her boyfriend are accused of locking her two children in a bedroom and forcing them to use a portable toilet in there during nights at their residence.

City police Tuesday charged Michael Edward Bloom, 37, and Erica Lynn Dunseath, 34, both of 223 Knox Ave., with child endangerment stemming from the allegations that were discovered Friday, court records show.

Police also charged Bloom with simple assault and harassment over allegations he struck the boy, 6, across the face and lower back after the child threatened to kill a girl at school Friday, police stated in the affidavit.

Police learned about the assault at about 8:15 p.m. when they went to investigate an argument between Dunseath and her mother, Melanie Hazelbaker, at Westgate Manor, the record indicates.

Dunseath is under a court order to place her children in the care of Hazelbaker on weekends. She told an officer that night she didn’t want to give her children to Hazelbaker because her mother was drunk and taking pills.

Meanwhile, Hazelbaker refused to give the boy back to his mother after he told her Bloom had slapped him.

Police went to Hazelbaker’s apartment and determined she did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The officer also took note of a bruise on the boy’s back.

The children’s grandmother then accused Bloom and her daughter of locking the boy and his 5-year-old sister in their bedroom at night. The door handle was rigged to allow it to be locked from a hallway outside of the bedroom, the affidavit indicates.

Police said officers also discovered a soiled portable commode in that bedroom.

The Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau placed the children in the care of Hazelbaker, police said.

Bloom is wanted on a warrant signed Monday by District Judge Joseph Dalfonso.

Dalfonso released Dunseath without bond when he arraigned her Wednesday.