By Tonia Noe-Rose - Staff Writer
A former Morehead State University professor pleaded guilty last Friday to charges of first-degree wanton endangerment of a child under the age of 12.
Noelle L. N’Diaye, 37, appeared before Circuit Judge Beth Maze and opted to plead guilty to the Nov. 11, 2007 charges that she smoked crack cocaine while her 2-month-old daughter was in the car with her, resulting in the child testing positive for the presence of drugs in her system.
On the day of her arrest, N’Diaye was taken into custody at her Sun Street residence after her husband called the Morehead Police on a domestic disturbance and asked for the child to be drug tested.
The arrest came one day after N’Diaye was first reported missing by her husband and then turned up at the Interstate-64 rest area near Morehead.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Ronnie Goldy said N’Diaye’s punishment would be up to the judge, but N’Diaye could be a candidate for pretrial diversion. To qualify, a defendant must have committed a class D felony, have no prior criminal record and comply with all requests from the court. Goldy does expect her counsel to request pretrial diversion in the case.
Goldy said N’Diaye did complete a six-month drug rehabilitation program and has been working “successfully” with social services.
“She has continued her substance abuse counseling and is doing what is asked of her,” Goldy said Wednesday. “Her husband did not want her to go to jail. The fact that this lady has a lot of education, we would like to see her maintain a healthy work environment and not have a felony charge on her record. Since she has complied with everything asked of her, we don’t want to say that she needs jail time. Our main objective is the health and safety of the child and the mother has proven that she is willing to fulfill the court’s requirements. But, it all will be up to the judge.”
N’Diaye’s formal sentencing is set for Dec. 5 at 11 a.m. in Rowan Circuit Court.
The Pretrial Diversion program (PTD) is an alternative to prosecution, which seeks to divert certain offenders from traditional criminal justice processing into a program of supervision and services administered by the United Probation Service.
In the majority of cases, offenders are diverted at the pre-charge stage. Participants who successfully complete the program will not be charged or, if charged, will have the charges against them dismissed; unsuccessful participants are returned for prosecution, according to the United States Attorneys Manual.
