Millcreek Township mother to stand trial on child abuse charges

ERIE TIMES-NEWS, PA. | LISA THOMPSON | Fri, Jun 4, 6:16 AM

Jun. 4--Greenfield Township District Judge Sue Strohmeyer has bound over for trial all charges filed against a Millcreek Township woman accused of abusing her four adopted children.

Annissa Schoolfield, 41, a suspended state prison guard, now faces trial on one count of aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of a crime, and four counts each of endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person.

Schoolfield's preliminary hearing was held Wednesday. Strohmeyer delayed ruling on the charges until Thursday, so she could review the testimony and the law.

Her ruling came over the objection of Schoolfield's lawyer, Wayne Johnson, who argued that some of what the children described was corporal punishment, which, he said, is not illegal.

On Wednesday, Schoolfield's two sons and two daughters, ages 7 to 12, described discipline their mother handed out to them between 2007 and 2009 while they lived with her at 5113 Kates Way, in a condominium complex in the Belle Valley section of Millcreek.

The children said their mother slapped them with a belt and cut the backs of their fingers with a kitchen knife.

The oldest daughter, 12, said her mother once placed a plastic bag over her head and held it there until she nearly passed out.

The oldest son, 12, said Schoolfield had handcuffed his arms behind his back and beat him and also handcuffed one arm to a basement handrail.

They were not able to testify exactly how many times the incidents took place nor exactly when they took place. They said the incidents happened generally because they had gotten in trouble for conduct.

Schoolfield was suspended from her job without pay because of the case. She is free on $50,000 unsecured bond.

Court records indicate that at least two prior abuse allegations against Schoolfield were investigated by the Erie County Office of Children and Youth in 2004 and by the state Department of Public Welfare in 2007 and were determined to be unfounded.

Her ex-husband, Eugene L. Schoolfield II, pastor of St. James A.M.E. Church, 236 E. 11th St., with whom the children now reside, was also investigated by DPW for abuse in 2008 and cleared.

LISA THOMPSON can be reached at 870-1802 or by e-mail.