Joplin mother granted probation in child endangerment case

Sep. 19—A 27-year-old Joplin mother took a plea deal this week on child endangerment charges she was facing and was granted probation on the condition she continue to comply with requirements of the Children's Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services.

Emily D. Nielson was charged in November 2022 with two counts of felony child endangerment following the investigation of a call to the state's child abuse hotline.

Joplin police and state child abuse investigators were looking into the cause of a large bruise that had been observed on the face of her 3-year-old son when they went to her apartment and found it to be "extremely dirty," according to a probable-cause affidavit. The place was strewn with open bottles of liquor, rotting food, trash and what appeared to be fecal matter on the floor next to her son's toys, according to the affidavit.

The document further states that investigators determined that the boy's bruise was caused by her slapping him when he happened to strike her nose while she was trying to get him back to sleep.

Nielson pleaded guilty Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court to a single count of endangerment in a plea agreement dismissing the second count and calling for the suspended sentence. Judge Dean Dankelson went along with the plea agreement and placed her on probation for five years on the condition that she comply with Missouri Department of Social Services requirements.