Chester Co. boy brings heroin to school; grandmother arrested
COATESVILLE, Pa. (WPVI) -- A Chester County woman is facing charges after her 7-year-old grandson allegedly brought heroin into his first grade classroom.
56-year-old Pauline Bilinski-Munion of Woodland Avenue in Modena is facing endangering the welfare of children and drug charges.
According to the District Attorney's Office, Bilinski-Munion is a heroin user who had left heroin out in her home while taking care of her grandchildren.
The boy allegedly found the drugs and brought some of it into Caln Elementary School on Friday. The DA also says the boy distributed the heroin to at least one other child.
A teacher at the school learned of the drugs and later found nine bags of heroin in the boy's pants pocket.
The child initially claimed that he found the heroin in the school yard, but he later admitted that he brought the drugs from home, the District Attorney's Office said.
The drugs, which were branded with the words "Victoria Secret", were turned over to the Coatesville Area School District police.
The District Attorney's Office says that the school district failed to notify them of the incident. Instead, the DA says a notice was distributed informing parents to a "dangerous and illegal" substance found in the grass at recess. The notice advised parents to check their children for the substance and suggested they may want to take their children to the emergency room for an evaluation.
The District Attorney's Office says it learned of the incident on Saturday from media reports.
Detectives then interviewed the boy with his relatives, at which time they learned he usually stays with his aunt in Coatesville, but recently had been living with his mother, father, and grandmother. The child said he found the drugs on the floor by the washing machine inside the Modena home.
A search warrant was executed at the residence on Saturday evening, and detectives allegedly located heroin bags in the home, as well as an empty heroin bag in a pair of children's shorts.
Bilinski-Munion was arrested on Sunday and is being held on $25,000 cash bail.
In a statement released on Monday, District Attorney Tom Hogan was quoted as saying, "Heroin in an elementary school is a nightmare. Any exposure to heroin for a young child is likely to result in death. The defendant is lucky that she was not responsible for the death of her own grandson or somebody else's child."
Hogan was also critical of the school district's response to the incident, saying in part, "From a student safety perspective, heroin loose in a grade school is a major emergency. CASD should have immediately called 911 and brought in emergency and police personnel to check on the physical condition of the children and make sure none of the other children had been given heroin. A late and vague notification to parents about a 'dangerous and illegal' substance is too little and too late. From a law enforcement perspective, CASD's Solicitor should have immediately notified the District Attorney's Office. CASD's notification to the parents was inadequate to help the children, but served to tip-off the defendant, putting the investigation at risk."
Anyone with information should contact Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.
