Mother alleged to have endangered her five children
Three adults have been arrested on charges of child abuse and five children were taken into the custody of Health and Human Services (HHS) following an incident on June 15 in which a 7-year-old was found walking along Highway 34 in Aurora wrapped in a blanket and wearing no shoes.
According to court records, Aurora Police Officer Peyton Ott responded to Lot 8 of the Greenmeadow Estates trailer park at about 10:40 that evening after dispatch received a report of a woman slapping a child. The caller had also reported that five children were sleeping in a tent near the fifth-wheel camper parked on the lot.
When Ott arrived at the address, he reported he was met by the children who were clothed only in t-shirts and shorts. He observed they appeared to be covered in bug bites and also had numerous scratches and bruises on their bodies.
Making contact with the owner of the camper, 45-year-old Nathan Collingham, Ott said he was informed by Collingham that the children were given the choice of sleeping either in the camper or in the tent, which Ott estimated appeared to have a capacity of two or three people.
Collingham allegedly told the officer he had been given “delegation of parental powers” by the children’s mother, Charli Burk.
Ott also made contact at that time with 38-year-old Carrie Beck, another occupant of the trailer.
In his report, Ott stated that the children told him they “didn’t have a lot of food” and complained of being hungry.
“The tent which was on the property was soaked in water and the juveniles’ clothing were in totes in the driveway,” the report stated.
He also noted that upon going inside the trailer he found it to be “cramped and cluttered with personal belongings,” and stated he doubted their would have been room for the children to sleep inside. He also reported that there were two medium-sized dogs in the camper.
After the officer left the scene, Hamilton County Dispatch Center received two separate calls reporting there was a young child walking in the middle of Highway 34 near 20th Street wrapped in a blanket.
Ott reported that when he located the 7-year-old, he was not wearing any shoes. The child reported he had been locked out of the camper.
Returning to the trailer, Ott said he again spoke to Collingham and Beck and neither said they had any intention of going looking for the missing boy.
Shortly after 1 a.m. the next morning, both Collingham and Beck were arrested and charged with multiple counts of child abuse. Beck was charged with one count of child abuse and six counts of intentional child abuse, while Collingham was charged with five counts of intentional child abuse.
Bond for both subjects was initially set at $50,000, however, Beck was released on a personal recognizance bond after citing health issues, and bond for Collingham was reduced to 10 percent of $5,000.
The children, ranging in age from approximately 6 to 10, were taken into the custody of HHS.
Following the arrests of Collingham and Burk, the children’s mother, 32-year-old Charli Burk of Grand Island, has also been charged with five counts of intentional child abuse in connection with the incident.
According to court records, although both Collingham and Beck denied any knowledge of Burk’s whereabouts, “Charli was later located within the camper on Lot 8 Greenmeadow by Officer Dvorak who was there for a separate investigation.”
The complaint filed on June 25 alleges that because the woman was aware of the living conditions the children were subjected to, she had “placed them in a situation that endangered the juveniles’ physical and mental health.”
A warrant was issued for Burk’s arrest on the charges. Authorities reported last week that Burk was sitting in the Hall County Jail in Grand Island having been arrested in connection with another matter. She is now incarcerated in the Hamilton County Jail.