Couple faces trial for alleged reckless endangerment of children

>> An Upper Gwynedd couple is headed for trial in an alleged child endangerment case in which police said they responded to a domestic call in March and found the pair high on narcotics and in possession of syringes that were in close proximity to their four young children.

Richard D. Diehl, Jr., 38, and Bonnie Lynn Diehl, 36 — both of the 300 block of Bradford Lane — waived their preliminary hearings in district court, sending multiple misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment filed against both defendants to Montgomery County court for trial.

According to court documents filed in the case, Upper Gwynedd cops responded to the Diehl’s home on the night of March 20 for a reported domestic disturbance, and though it was determined that the disturbance was verbal only and not physical, police observed that Bonnie Diehl appeared “heavily under the influence of narcotics” and Richard Diehl was hiding upstairs, all while the couple’s four minor children were inside the residence.

Richard Diehl eventually came downstairs and spoke to police, admitting that he and Bonnie Diehl had used methamphetamine earlier in the day and that Bonnie had been shooting heroin throughout the day as well, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Richard Diehl also told police that Bonnie Diehl had hidden syringes between the mattress and box spring in their room, and when police found and seized the syringes, they observed children’s belongings — as well as unspecified prescription medications — in the room and determined that the kids had been “in dangerous proximity to drug paraphernalia, medications not prescribed to them, and narcotics left out by Richard and Bonnie Diehl,” the affidavit states.

The four children were removed from the home with the help of the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth, during which all the kids told authorities they were hungry and one said “not in a while” when asked if they had eaten recently, according to court documents.

Court records indicate Richard Diehl has been freed from custody after his bail was reduced from $5,000 cash to $10,000 unsecured, while Bonnie Diehl remains behind bars at county jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail.

Richard Diehl is due to be formally arraigned in county court later this month; Bonnie Diehl’s formal arraignment is set for June.

The current status of the couple’s children was not immediately known Wednesday.