PERRYVILLE, IN – An Indiana couple, Amanda D. Osmon, 36, and Jeffrey Scheda, 41, were arrested this weekend and charged with child neglect after allegedly refusing to pick up their 13-year-old daughter from a hospital. The incident began when the couple’s daughter checked herself into Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Hospital for a mental health evaluation following a dispute with her mother.
Located about 165 miles southwest of Indianapolis, the hospital became a temporary shelter for the teenager who sought help after the familial conflict escalated. When hospital social workers tried to contact Osmon to retrieve her daughter, their calls went unanswered throughout Saturday. Later in the evening, around 7 p.m., a social worker succeeded in reaching Scheda by phone, but he abruptly ended the conversation when asked to cooperate in facilitating their daughter’s return home.
It was not until approximately 10 p.m. that Osmon herself was finally contacted by phone. The conversation quickly soured, evolving into a heated argument about who should come to pick up the adolescent. Osmon apparently expressed significant irritation and ended the call with an indifferent remark that suggested reluctance to address the matter promptly.
According to police reports, suspicions arose during the phone call that Osmon may have been under the influence of alcohol. This suspicion was later substantiated when law enforcement visited the couple’s home in the early hours of Sunday morning. Both Osmon and Scheda admitted to the officers that they had consumed a substantial amount of alcohol and had fallen asleep, leaving their daughter waiting at the hospital without a guardian.
Moreover, during their altercation earlier on Saturday, Osmon claimed that the teenager had bitten her, adding another layer of complexity to the family’s troubled dynamics. Despite her claim, Osmon acknowledged she was informed about her daughter’s hospital visit much later than claimed, and failed to produce any evidence supporting her version of the events.
Following their arrest, Osmon and Scheda were processed at the Vanderburgh County Jail. They were subsequently released on a $1,500 bond each. As conditions of their release, the couple is barred from consuming alcohol and must receive explicit permission from the Department of Child Services to have any contact with their daughter.
The scheduled court appearance of Osmon and Scheda for their initial hearing on this case is set for January 29, where the details of the incident will be further examined. This case brings forth significant questions about parental responsibilities and the systems in place to protect children in situations where those responsibilities are shirked.