A St. Charles couple with a history of child-endangerment charges is facing yet another charge after their disabled five-year-old son was allegedly found wandering around in the pouring rain, alone and barefoot.
Why was he by himself? His father drank himself to sleep in the middle of the day, police say.
The couple is John Jeffery Sahs, 55, and Kimbrela Vivian Sahs, 48, who live on Campus Drive in St. Charles -- and court records show that they've both faced multiple child-endangerment charges in recent years.
This latest incident, reported yesterday by the Post-Dispatch, is particularly troubling.
The paper reports that around 2:40 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in March, the boy was found wandering on Campus Drive wrapped in a towel and barefoot. It was cold and raining heavily, police say.
The five-year-old apparently had previously suffered a traumatic brain injury and has reportedly been diagnosed with autism.
Fortunately, a local business took in the boy until police and an ambulance arrived. The mother, Kimbrela Sahs, arrived a short while later, the P-D reports: "She told police that the boy's father was supposed to be watching him. When she realized the boy was gone, she came looking for him."
The subsequent police investigation revealed that John Sahs was supposed to be watching the child, but that he "became extremely intoxicated and fell asleep."
The father has been placed on probation twice for child endangerment and twice violated these provisions, the paper says. He even allegedly had an outstanding warrant for child endangerment when his son wandered away without shoes.
And in 2010, the mother pleaded guilty to a child endangerment charge and was placed on probation.
Both were apparently issued summonses once again and are now free.
The two do not have attorneys listed in court records.
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