New Kensington police arrest woman, hand children over to father facing sex charges

After New Kensington police arrested a woman on charges of endangering her two children, officers turned the 3-year-old and 1-year-old over to their father, who is charged with rape and accused of performing sex acts in front of the children.

New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said his department was not aware of the charges Arnold police filed May 4 against Michael Jerome Jimenez, 37, when they arrested Kayla Jean Kunselman, 35, on Friday and released the children to Jimenez and their grandmother.

Jimenez is free on a $25,000 unsecured bond. According to court records, he is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 13 before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. on charges of rape and indecent assault.

According to a criminal complaint, a woman told Arnold police on April 4 that Jimenez forced her to perform a sex act on him April 2. Jimenez also is accused of behaving inappropriately in front of children, including a third child of whom he is the father.

The woman said Jimenez would walk around the apartment touching his genitalia, including performing a lewd act in front of her and the children, the complaint states. The woman also told police that Jimenez “pulled out the gun he had and said that he brought it for Kayla.”

Kunselman was being held in the Westmoreland County jail after she was arraigned Saturday morning. She was released Wednesday after a private surety paid $250, 10% of a $2,500 bond, according to court records. Charged with endangering the welfare of children and public drunkenness, her preliminary hearing also is scheduled for July 13 before Pallone.

According to a criminal complaint, a New Kensington officer encountered Kunselman about 7:30 p.m. Friday when he went to the 600 block of Fourth Street for a woman requesting a ride. She was “visibly under the influence of narcotics” and accompanied by her two children.

Kunselman told the officer she was trying to get to Ford City but could not call her family because she didn’t have a phone, the complaint states.

Asked whether she had been drinking or had taken any narcotics, Kunselman said someone had forced her to take cocaine.

Police said Kunselman was unable to control the children, who were running into the street. According to the complaint, they were not fully clothed and only in diapers, which were full of feces.

Because the officer determined Kunselman was not capable of properly caring for her children, they were released to Jimenez and their grandmother. Kunselman was arrested, and the officer submitted a Childline report.

In addition to his department not being aware of the charges Arnold police had filed against Jimenez, Deringer said they also did not “have any way to find this out short of someone from APD telling us (which they did not),” he said by email Monday.

“Arnold and New Ken are separate cities with separate PDs and separate PD reporting systems,” he said, adding that, “The children were released to the grandmother, as well.”

Arnold police Chief Eric Doutt did not respond to a request for comment.

After being contacted Monday by the Trib, Deringer said his department contacted the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau “and advised them of this new information.”

A representative of the bureau has not responded to requests for comment.