Wilkinsburg man charged after police said they found missing children in his apartment

A Wilkinsburg man faces charges after police said multiple missing juveniles were found in his apartment.

Tyron Scott, 21, is charged with four counts of child endangerment and one count each of corruption of minors and reckless endangerment.

Police from Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg responded early Monday to a report of a boy being held against his will at an apartment on Center Street, according to the criminal complaint against Scott.

When officers arrived, several children who were in the apartment building’s stairwell took off, and police eventually took custody of a boy and a girl when they ran out the back door, according to the complaint. They were returned to their respective families, police said.

Officers spoke with Scott, who said there were no more children in the apartment, according to the complaint. A short time later, police received word that the boy whose missing report sparked the investigation was at a nearby convenience store.

The boy said he had been assaulted inside the apartment of a man later identified as Scott, according to the complaint. He said that Scott watched the attack and did nothing to stop it, and he didn’t know the names of any of the others who were involved, the complaint said.

Back at the apartment building, police said Scott told officers he was alone in the apartment, though they said they later found his daughter, who police believe gave a fake name, and another girl and boy were found in a bedroom.

Police said they identified the girl who purported to be Scott’s daughter as a girl previously reported missing by her father. The second girl found in the bedroom was identified as a girl who had been reported missing by her mother in Pittsburgh, according to the complaint. The boy in the bedroom had been reported missing from Family Links in McKeesport.

Police said the apartment had no furniture, but rather just a single mattress in a bedroom. Officers found roaches, condom wrappers, a pregnancy test and emergency contraceptive pills on the floor, according to the complaint.

Investigators have not identified any of the children involved, nor did they say how long the children had been reported missing.

Scott remained in Allegheny County Jail on Wednesday, unable to post $5,000 bail, court records show. Records did not list an attorney for Scott. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 13.