West Union woman sentenced for child endangering, permitting child abuse
A West Union woman was sentenced last week to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to child endangering and abuse.
Tien Hawkins, 26, was indicted by an Adams County grand jury in July 2025 on charges of murder, an unclassified felony; involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; three counts of permitting child abuse, one first-degree and two third-degree felonies; and three counts of endangering children, a third-degree felony.
She pleaded guilty in May to one count of child endangering and two counts of permitting child abuse, all third-degree felonies. The remaining five charges were dismissed.
The indictment that alleged that from approximately April 1 through July 2, 2026, Hawkins “recklessly created a substantial risk to the health or safety” of a child “by violating a duty of care” which “resulted in serious physical harm.”
It is further alleged that during the same time frame, Hawkins “recklessly permitted [a child or children] to be abused, to be tortured, to be administered corporal punishment or other physical disciplinary measure, or to be physically restrained in a cruel manner or for a prolonged period” and that “the permitted abuse was the proximate cause of serious physical harm.”
As previously reported by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, on July 1 at approximately 9:08 a.m., the Adams County Communications Center received a 911 call for a 2-year-old who was reported unresponsive at an apartment complex in West Union.
Deputies from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, along with EMTs from West Union Fire and EMS Department, responded to the scene. When units arrived on scene, they located the child not breathing. The child was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Adams County Coroner’s Office, while Hawkins and Brian Moser (formerly known as Terry Smith III), 23, were arrested and charged with child endangerment.
During a hearing June 17, Adams County Common Pleas Court Judge Brett Spencer sentenced Hawkins to 30 months on the child endangering charge, consecutive to 30 months on one permitting child abuse charge and concurrent to 30 months on the other, for a total of 60 months in prison. She had 345 days of jail time credit.
Moser previously pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charge and two third-degree felony child endangering charges, one of which was amended. He was sentenced in March to a minimum of 17 years and maximum of 22.5 years in prison.
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