SCHENECTADY — The live-in boyfriend of a woman who died last year inside a city home where she and five of her children were living in unsanitary conditions pleaded guilty to a child endangerment charge Monday to resolve a case that cast a spotlight on the actions of Child Protective Services workers and spurred filing of a neglect lawsuit against the agency and other government entities.
The terms of the plea deal, reached Monday as jury selection was sent to begin in Kevin Lownsbury’s trial, call for Lownsbury to serve a sentence of up to 60 days in jail and three years probation. His sentencing is scheduled for August.
Attorneys involved in the case, however, said afterward that Schenectady County Court Judge Matthew Sypniewski told Lownsbury he doesn’t plan on putting him behind bars if Lownsbury avoids further legal trouble before his sentencing.
The Warren County man would have faced a maximum of 1⅓ years to 4 years in prison if convicted of the charges he initially faced: felony counts of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and the five child endangerment misdemeanors.
The case dates to Feb. 4, 2022, when rescue crews and police went to 1121 McClellan St. for a 911 call for a woman suffering a heart attack. Paramedics could not revive Jennifer L. Hoch, 46.
Inside, rescuers dressed in hazardous materials suits discovered several children, including some with severe mental disabilities, living in an apartment filled with trash. The walls were smeared with feces and locks were found on some of the doors in what authorities at the time suspected was an effort to confine some of the children.
Hoch died of natural causes due to respiratory failure, Assistant District Attorney John Carson said.
The Times Union last year obtained documents showing county Child Protective Services (CPS) had investigated the family five…
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