Sylvester pleads guilty, seeks parenting help

Stanhope - Lisa Sylvester, 27, of Stanhope, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse, a fourth degree crime, in a plea arrangement with the Sussex County prosecutor’s office. Sylvester was arrested by Stanhope police in August and charged with failure to protect the physical and moral well-being of a child, her 13-year-old daughter. Police were told Sylvester left the young teen alone in her apartment for long periods of time between May and July 2006 while she worked at a car dealership in Madison. Sylvester said she was never away more than a day or so at a time, but admitted the girl was alone during those periods. She said chronic car trouble kept her from returning home to Stanhope each night. In August, representatives of the landlord told The Township Journal they hadn’t seen Sylvester in some time. It was the landlord who called police. He said he was worried about the girl and noticed the word “help” scratched into the concrete at the bottom of the outside staircase. His business, VanGendren Auto Parts, occupies the lower lever of the building on Route 183. Police said they found the girl alone, surrounded by pizza boxes in an unkempt apartment that smelled of cat feces. The electricity had been turned off for non-payment and the second-floor apartment was stifling. Sylvester has agreed to take parenting classes and has not been sentenced to jail time.