Monessen, PA -- Monessen Police charged a man after a small child was found outside of the residence, unsupervised. 

Jessie Clendenen, of Monessen, is facing charges of endangering the welfare of children, drug possession, and recklessly endangering another person. 

A concerned citizen showed up to Monessen Police station in the evening hours of April 16, 2026 to report a small child crying on the porch of a residence on Lenawee Avenue. 

Officers responded to the residence and observed the toddler crying uncontrollably on an exterior deck of the home. 

Monessen Police knocked on the doors and windows but did not receive a response. 

A neighbor attempted to call the man living at the residence where the child was crying, but no one answered. 

Officers were able to make contact with the male inside of the residence, Clendenen, who retrieved the child after being made aware that the child was on a deck outside of the residence. 

As officers were inside of the residence, they observed marijuana on a table in the residence near where the child was reportedly sleeping. 

Clendenen told officers he and the child ate dinner, and he believes he fell asleep, indicating the child was outside on an exterior deck for up to an hour and a half, unsupervised. 

The Westmoreland County Children's Bureau was contacted as a result of the incident. 

Disclaimer: To the extent that pending criminal matters are discussed, all such charges are merely accusations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.