A Salisbury Township mother is facing criminal charges after police say she stood on her back porch and watched her two 12-year-old sons and an 11-year-old friend pour gasoline onto backyard fires, then went back inside without intervening. Valerie Anne Ackerman-Cicconetti, 46, was arraigned on three misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment the same day investigators say a neighbor's video captured the entire incident.
According to lehighvalleylive.com, a witness called police just before 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 31 to report three juvenile boys setting fires in a grassy area behind a home in the 1300 block of Voortman Avenue. Police identified two of the boys as Ackerman-Cicconetti's 12-year-old sons, with the third described as an 11-year-old friend of the brothers. The witness handed investigators video footage of the alleged acts, which became the backbone of the case against their mother.
What the Video Allegedly Shows
Per the affidavit, the footage showed the three boys lighting three separate fires several feet apart in the backyard, with flames ranging from about one foot to two or three feet high. At one point, the report notes, one boy poured gasoline from a plastic can onto a fire, and the resulting flash nearly engulfed him and knocked him backward. Court records say the children also poured gasoline at the base of another fire, and grass ignited amid extremely dry conditions and leaves scattered across the yard.
Police said Ackerman-Cicconetti came onto the back porch during the fires, looked at them, and went back inside without trying to stop the flames. When questioned, she admitted she knew about the fires and identified herself as the woman seen in the video, according to court records. She reportedly asked investigators, “Is it illegal for kids to have fires in the yard?”
Charges, Bail and What Comes Next
Ackerman-Cicconetti, who lives in the 900 block of East Rock Road in Salisbury Township, was arraigned on Oct. 31 before District Judge David Howells Jr., who set bail at $10,000 unsecured. She is represented by Allentown-based attorney Zaine Shetayh. Her preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nov. 18 before Judge Howells, who will determine whether enough evidence exists to send the case to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas. The allegations against her have not been established at trial.
Under Pennsylvania law, reckless endangerment is classified as a second-degree misdemeanor when a person recklessly engages in conduct that places or may place another person in danger of death or serious bodily injury, according to Pennsylvania General Assembly, 18 Pa.C.S. § 2705. That statutory definition does not constitute a finding about the specific allegations in this case.
Salisbury Township's own code addresses outdoor burning more broadly: open fires may not be left unattended and must be controlled and supervised by a responsible person at all times, and are not permitted under conditions of excessive winds or dryness, per Salisbury Township Code, Chapter 141: Burning, Open. A separate section of the municipal code lists grasses, green twigs, plantings, shrubbery and leaves among the materials prohibited from burning, according to Salisbury Township Code, Part 1: Outdoor Fires. It remains unclear which, if any, of those ordinance provisions were weighed in connection with the alleged conduct.
