Christian Joel Henry, 27, who had been accused of leaving his small children home alone while he was out stealing in October 2019, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of Class C felony child neglect, two counts of Class C felony possession of stolen property, and one Class A misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia. Henry’s 5-year-old daughter went out alone in blizzard-like conditions looking for her parents and walked a block before she was found by a neighbor who called police. Police took the child home and discovered that two other children, a toddler and a baby, were alone in the residence and methamphetamine pipes had been left in the bathroom that were within reach of the children.

Judge Gary Lee, who had previously rejected a proposed plea deal for Henry, accepted the guilty pleas on Tuesday. Before he accepted a plea, he had wanted to hear testimony from Social Services about how things have been going with the children and their parents. At a previous hearing for Henry’s wife and co-defendant, Alicia Henry, a lawyer said that a family court placed the children under the supervision of Ward County Social Services for one year and Social Services is to determine the Henrys’ contact and custody of the children. Henry’s lawyer, Kalli Hoffmann, had said at a past hearing that Christian Henry had been battling drug addiction at the time of the October incident and he has been trying to comply with Social Services requirements as best as he can while he has been incarcerated.

Hoffmann said in the email that two people testified at the hearing on Tuesday He ordered a pre-sentence investigation and has set a sentencing date for April 7, according to an email from Hoffmann.

Hoffmann wrote in the email that other charges against Henry in that case are to be dismissed under the terms of a plea agreement. Those charges included two counts of Class C felony child neglect, one count of Class C felony conspiracy to commit unlawful entry into a vehicle, and one count of Class C felony conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of personal identifying information to obtain credit. In another case, charges of Class A misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine and Class A misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia will be dismissed against Henry. Hoffmann wrote that Judge Gary Lee refused to take a plea in a Class C felony terrorizing charge against Henry.

In that case, Henry is accused of brandishing a knife at a convenience store clerk on Aug. 17, 2019. That case has been assigned to Judge Stacy Louser and Hoffmann wrote that Louser will have to determine that case.

Alicia Henry, 26, pleaded guilty in November to one count of Class C felony child neglect, two counts of Class C felony theft of a credit card, and one Class A misdemeanor charge of possession of methamphetamine paraphernalia. The state agreed to dismiss two Class C felony child neglect charges, a Class C felony charge of conspiracy to commit unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, Class C felony conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of a credit card, and one Class C felony charge of unauthorized use of a credit card. Judge Gary Lee sentenced Henry to a deferred imposition of sentence for three years on the child neglect charge, along with three years of supervised probation, and ordered her to pay court costs. She also received a three-year deferred imposition of sentence and three years of probation, concurrent with the sentence on the child neglect charge, for each of the theft charges. She received a 360-day deferred imposition of sentence for two years of supervised probation for the Class A misdemeanor charge of possession of the meth pipes.