Augusta police have issued a summons to Karen Lea, the mother of the child who was identified as missing in an Amber Alert on Oct. 4, on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
Lea, 40, of Augusta, is the mother of Lenore Wilson, the 3-year-old girl whose whereabouts were unknown for most of the day after Augusta Fire and Rescue discovered she was missing when they went to a Sewall Street apartment to handle a medical emergency. That prompted a search by local, county and state police and the issuance of an Amber Alert.
The child was believed to be with Fatima Gissentaner, 26, and her boyfriend, “Dollar.” The Amber Alert was issued after Gissentaner failed to drop the child off with police when requested. Wilson was dropped off that evening at the Augusta police station by someone who was acquainted with Gissentaner.
Augusta police Deputy Chief Jared Mills said Tuesday that Gissentaner and “Dollar” are believed to be out of state and have not come forward to talk to police about the incident. Last week he said they were looking for the pair “to determine what their intentions were.”
Mills said last week that Lenore is doing well and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services will determine who’ll care for her. He declined again Tuesday to say where Lenore is staying.
Also last week, Mills had said he could not identify the type of medical emergency Lea suffered, but the Augusta police log shows police responded that morning to a report of an overdose on Sewall Street and radio communications later in the day described Lenore’s mother as having suffered an overdose.
Gissentaner was at the apartment at the time of the overdose, police said.
Mills said Augusta detectives are completing their investigation. When it’s done, they will present it to the Kennebec County district attorney’s office to determine whether additional charges will be filed.
Lea was a registered nurse in the state of Maine from 2004 until 2010, when she agreed to surrender her nursing license. In the consent agreement, the State of Maine Board of Nursing listed allegations of diverting drugs at two facilities and her delivery of substandard care as well as her conviction in 2010 in Penobscot County District Court of two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
In signing the agreement, Lea waived her right to a hearing by the nursing board, which could have taken disciplinary action on a series of violations including habitual substance abuse, and unprofessional conduct, which included inaccurately recorded medication administration documentation in a health records, practicing nursing when her physical or mental ability to practice were impaired by drugs and diverting drugs.
In 2014, Lea was found guilty of a 2013 charge of theft by unauthorized taking following investigation into a shoplifting complaint at the Augusta Wal-Mart.
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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