LANCASTER COUNTY — A Berks County woman who gave birth to a boy on the toilet at the Warwick Township group home where she worked in January will serve additional time in prison after being sentenced Monday on a felony count of child endangerment, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Emmanuella Osei, 24, was sentenced to a 9- to 23-month prison term by Lancaster County Judge Margaret Miller. She will also serve five years of probation after her release. Osei has been in prison since January 16.
In passing sentence, Miller said she considered the mental state of Osei, who came to the United States from Ghana early in her pregnancy.
But, Miller said, Osei had the mental capacity to be aware of what she was doing regarding the birthing conditions of her second child.
“I must be mindful of the seriousness of this offense — although perhaps depressed, confused and lost, she made certain decisions,” Miller said in court.
Osei’s child has been placed in the care of Osei’s relatives, the DA’s office said.
Osei made no attempts to assist or provide aid to the child. She did not touch the child, instead leaving him in the toilet where he was found partially submerged in water. That the child survived such distress is a “miracle,” Miller said in court.
“But it is a miracle in which Ms. Osei took no part,” Miller said.
Osei chose not to speak at the hearing. Miller said that inhibited her ability to see Osei’s remorse in full context, the DA’s office said.
