BY TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Half a year after having her children temporarily taken away because she neglected them, authorities have again removed Katrina Wambsganz's four children from her care.
Care was what was missing from the 27-year-old mother, police say. The Hamilton County sheriff's office charged her Wednesday with four felony counts of child endangering.
The charges came after police received a call to check on the welfare of her boys -- ages 2, 5 and 6. The caller reported seeing a man shaking one of the 2-year-old twins and spitting in his face.
The family has no permanent home. When officers arrived at a family member's home they were visiting in Bevis, officers found the children dirty and without shoes. They had not eaten all day, and one of the twins handed an officer a board, "which is what the children were getting beat with," the officer wrote in a report.
Ms. Wambsganz pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Thursday in Hamilton County Municipal Court. She was being held in jail on $10,000 bond.
Last year, she was sentenced to 40 hours of community service after being convicted of child endangering. In October 1997, police found her Westwood home in poor condition, with roaches in food and soiled clothing and dirty dishes scattered about the house.
At the time, she was able to regain custody of her children by criteria set forth by the Hamilton County Department of Human Services. They are now in foster care.
