DANIELSON — Prosecutors expect at least three individuals in March to take plea offers related to a sprawling Danielson child neglect case.
Inside Danielson Superior Court on Friday, three brothers — Nicolas, James and Jason Emory — stood handcuffed and flanked with their lawyers in front of Judge Jack Fischer. A few feet away two other defendants, Donna Rodeheffer and Martha Kelley, sat waiting for their cases to be called.
It was the first time all members of the extended family were in court on the same day since their individual arrests.
State’s Attorney Anne Mahoney said the Emory brothers, who each face child neglect-related and child pornography possession charges, are expected on March 5 to accept undisclosed plea offers that will settle their cases short of trial.
“Jason and James Emory are expected to be sentenced on that date and Nicolas Emory’s case will likely be continued for completion of a (pre-sentence investigation),” she said.
Mahoney said offers had also been extended to Rodeheffer and Kelley as part of a package plea deal encompassing all defendants. She said her goal in prosecuting the case was to obtain pleas from all defendants at once.
State police began investigating the case in July 2016 after serving a child-pornography-related search warrant at 39 Broad St., where the family lived together for several years. Police said children had suffered “extreme neglect” for several years that led to missing teeth, malnutrition and social stunting, according to medical exam information detailed in an arrest warrant.
The children’s father, Nicholas Emory, has been described as the most culpable in the neglect by prosecutors. He and the children’s mother, Rodeheffer, each face three counts each of risk of injury to a child and negligent cruelty to persons.
The children’s live-in uncles, James and Jason Emory, also face multiple charges of risk of injury to a child, as does Kelly, the children’s grandmother.
In addition to the neglect charges, Nicolas, James and Jason Emory are charged with first-degree possession of child pornography. Police said the three Emory brothers viewed child pornography on multiple occasions in their home, with Nicolas Emory telling police he watched the illegal videos while his children were in the same room, according to a warrant.
Kelley and Rodeheffer are free on bond and the three Emory brothers have been jailed since February.