Detectives say 7-year-old grandson found her heroin, took it to school
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Pauline Bilinski-Munion
Underscoring the danger posed by having heroin in the hands of first-graders, a county detective testified on Thursday, May 8, that the drug can be absorbed into the skin simply by touching it.
The testimony came during the preliminary hearing for Pauline Bilinski-Munion, 56, of Modena, who was charged on Sunday, May 4, with drug offenses, endangering the welfare of children, and reckless endangerment. She is accused of bringing heroin into her residence while baby-sitting two young children, including her 7-year-old grandson. On Friday, May 2, the boy took a packet containing nine heroin baggies to Caln Elementary School, where he gave one to another boy, prosecutors said.
Despite argument from defense attorney Arik T. Benari that the endangerment charges should be dismissed, Magisterial District Judge Nancy A. Gill ruled that the prosecutor presented sufficient evidence to hold Bilinski-Munion on all charges. Gill also denied a request for lower bail.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe called four witnesses: two county detectives, a Caln Elementary learning support teacher, and the mother of a boy who brought a suspected heroin packet home from school.
The teacher testified that she got a call about 10:35 a.m. on Friday, May 2, from another teacher, who warned that a 7-year-old on his way to her classroom might have drugs in his possession. She said when the boy arrived, she asked him to empty his pockets, and he produced “small plastic bags with other bags inside.” She said she did not know what they were, put them on her desk, and subsequently “handed them over to the principal.”
The mother testified that she and her husband were about to enter the Exton Mall about 5 p.m. on Friday when her son pulled out a baggie and said: “Mom, do you know what this is?” She said they knew that a small clear bag with blue paper and powder inside was “something bad.” She testified that she got the name of the boy who gave her son the drugs; called his aunt, whom she knew; and tossed the bag in the trash.
Det. Joseph Nangle testified that he was involved in executing a search warrant on Saturday, May 3, at Bilinski-Munion’s home, where he found an opened, empty heroin bag in the rear pocket of a child’s jean shorts as well as heroin paraphernalia. He said heroin is typically snorted or injected; however, “it can be absorbed by touching.”
Det. Robert Balchunis, who also participated in the search, said he located a pill bottle in a dresser drawer filled with snacks in the master bedroom. He said it had Bilinski-Munion’s name on the label and empty baggies and blue wax paper inside it. He testified that when he interviewed Bilinski-Munion, she said she found the heroin on the side of the road and brought it inside because she uses it.
“She knew it was wrong,” Balchunis said she told him. When she later noticed it was missing, “she panicked” and said she couldn’t find it, Balchunis testified.
At the conclusion of testimony, Benari argued that the endangerment charges require intent that was not proven. “She didn’t knowingly create a situation where” the child could be harmed. “I get that everyone is upset that a 7-year-old had heroin,” he said, adding that it seems that society needs someone to blame. “We don’t know if this child was going in places he shouldn’t have been.”
De Barrena-Sarobe countered by pointing out that most people are familiar with childproofing a home. For example, he said, common sense dictates that you don’t leave a loaded gun or dangerous chemicals where a child could get access. “She disregarded that responsibility,” he said. When she found the heroin, she should have called police; instead, she decided to bring a “deadly and poisonous” substance into a home with small children present.
Bilinski-Munion, who had been held at Chester County Prison since Sunday, May 4, after failing to post $25,000 cash bail, posted a bond after the hearing, court records said.
