A Penn Yan woman will spend one week in jail after admitting she abandoned a 13-year-old child and two dogs for nearly two weeks.
Yates County District Attorney Todd Casella said 43-year-old Ashley Montgomery was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Jason Cook to one week in jail and five years of probation.
Montgomery is also prohibited from owning domestic animals for 10 years and is subject to a stay-away order of protection.
The investigation began in September 2023, when Penn Yan police responded to a home for a reported suspicious incident. Officers said they discovered that the child and two dogs had been living alone for nearly two weeks after Montgomery left for Syracuse. The child was unharmed and taken to a safe location with help from Child Protective Services. Animal control officers removed the dogs, which were later placed in a new home.
Code enforcement officers condemned the house after determining it was uninhabitable.
Montgomery turned herself in to police on January 5 and pleaded guilty three months later to one count each of child abandonment and animal abandonment.
