A Warren woman is accused of leaving her children alone at home for a day to pursue a rap-singing career.

That same week, police said another woman skipped out for a day leaving her 12-year-old girl in charge of the household.

Later in September, another woman was brought in on a secret indictment because prosecutors said she watched her boyfriend strike her week-old son more than 50 times.

These stories — similar to the fodder for reality television — have played out in recent weeks in Mahoning Valley households.

Randall B. Muth, the Mahoning County Children Services Board’s executive director, said effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have done some unusual things to area families, and to his agency’s response.

“Even though we are getting half of our referrals, we are still working on these cases during the course of a full work week because of the depth and severity of the problems involved,” Muth said.

Muth’s counterpart at Trumbull County Children Services, Tim Schaffner, said the situation changed once the children were sent home from schools in March.

“The number of our referrals (went down). There were less eyes on the problem kids. There were no bus drivers, teachers or school counselors watching what has been going on,” the Trumbull County executive director said.

Muth said the state mandates several professions — such as school employees and medical professionals — to refer cases when they see evidence of possible child abuse.

“There is less face-to -face contact,” Muth said, noting that he is seeing more referrals of child abuse and neglect allegations coming during the pandemic from family members.

The Mahoning County Children Services agency’s annual report for 2018 — the latest figures available — show it investigated 1,021 cases of physical abuse; 972 cases of neglect; 186 cases of sexual abuse; 108 cases of medical neglect and 80 cases of emotional abuse. Of the more than 5,000 reports of alleged abuse or neglect received in 2018, the agency reported 909 came from either school or preschool personnel; 615 from criminal justice; 251 from medical, 967 from relatives and 103 from neighbors.

“Our number of cases hasn’t gone up this year, but the intensity of the problems seemed to have increased. The kids seemed to be more traumatized. Parents are under pressure becoming more desperate, whether it is lack of money because of lost jobs or the likelihood of breaking down to abuse of drugs … alcohol,” Schaffner of Trumbull County said. “Unfortunately the numbers do not identify the severity of the problems.”

HOUSEHOLDS

Recent court cases shed some light on what may be happening in some households.

A Warren woman, Leshay J. Myatt, 39, of 1557 Valley Drive SW, a mother of four, was brought into municipal court last month after she was accused of leaving her kids home alone for a day, allegedly to pursue a rap singing career. Another Warren mother in court, Amber Currie, 37, pleaded not guilty to child endangering charges in a case where she was accused of leaving her six children home alone on Sept. 10.

A Trumbull County 911 report shows Warren police were called to an apartment in the 200 block of Willard Avenue SE about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 26 to investigate injuries to seven-day-old Skylo Jacobs. The infant later was found to have been struck some 50 times with brain injuries and broken bones.

The mother, Kathleen Long, 27, of 1546 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of child endangering. Her case is continuing with a pre-trial hearing Oct. 21 before Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay.

Trumbull County assistant Prosecutor Diane Barber said the evidence in the case is strong against Long’s ex-boyfriend, but the mother is charged because she’s accused of allowing the abuse to go on for over a three-day period.

Long’s mother April Broxton, of Columbiana, said her daughter needed help for her problems and has long “been an enabler.”

Broxton, who has started a change.org petition drive seeking stronger laws against child abuse re-offenders, said her daughter had been abused as a child by a male relative in Georgia and Indiana, and that Long had been in the state’s custody since she was 6.

Joe Shorokey, CEO of Alta Care Group Inc., which deals in family counseling, said he believes drug use and non-fatal overdoses have risen in Mahoning County during the pandemic.

” I think this can be attributed to both increased social isolation and stress / anxiety,” Shorokey said.

For the first several months of the pandemic, Shorokey points out instances of child abuse and neglect reporting had plummeted.

“We know this was due to the social distancing as there was far less contact between children and the typical mandated reporters,” he said.

Shorokey said the behavioral health community had been expecting a surge and these cases may prove that “we are now experiencing” it.

“Our experience in Mahoning County is that there has been a clear impact on the mental wellness of children, adolescents, young adults and families. We are seeing far higher levels on requests for treatment related to depression and anxiety, and we only expect this to continue,” Shorokey said.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com

Recent cases

• Leshay J. Myatt, 39, of 1557 Valley Drive SW, Warren, a mother of four, was arraigned before Warren Municipal Judge Terry Ivanchak after she turned herself in at the court on Sept. 14, records show. Myatt is accused of leaving her children at home alone for a day allegedly to pursue a “rap music” career. A hearing is set for 10:15 a.m. Oct. 27 before Judge Thomas P. Gysegem.

• A 37-year-old Warren mother of six is charged with endangering children after police were called Sept. 10 to a DeSota Avenue NW address, where children were found home alone and supervised by a 12-year-old. Amber D. Currie pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge and will appear at Oct. 29 hearing before Judge Ivanchak.

• Kathleen Long, 27, of 1546 Mahoning Ave. NW. Warren, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of child endangering. Her case is continuing with a pre-trial hearing Oct. 21 before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay. Prosecutors say she allowed her live-in boyfriend to repeatedly abuse her newborn baby girl over a three-day period. Long has been in jail since Sept. 24. She has not posted a $10,000 bond.