Credit: Christopher Ney
A Middletown Township man who fled his trial on child endangerment charges was sentenced to nine to 21 years in state prison.
Albert Dunkowski, 54, was sentenced Monday at the Justice Center before Bucks County President Judge Wallace Bateman to the prison term.
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Christine Dunkowski, 48, will be sentenced at some point, but she remains out of custody and is being sought.
The couple were convicted in absentia in October on three counts each of endangering the welfare of a child in a stomach-turning case where neglect to their kids was detailed in court papers and during the trial.
The duo failed to show up for the final day of their trial and fled.
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The couple headed south and were captured in separate states.
On October 21, 2021, the U.S. Marshal Service arrested Albert Dunkowski at a bus stop in Elkton, Maryland.
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Following his arrest by federal authorities, Albert Dunkowski was being held in the Cecil County (Maryland) Detention Center, but was released into the public after a paperwork snafu.
Albert Dunkowski was then arrested again about a week later by bounty hunters working on behalf of the company that backed the 54-year-old man’s bail. He was transported back to Bucks County and his sentencing was scheduled.
Christine Dunkowski was arrested in late October in Wilmington, Delaware. Shortly after, she became free again and is being sought. Details on her situation were not immediately clear.
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Albert Dunkowski is facing new charges relate to his attempt to avoid justice.
Credit: Middletown police
Middletown Township police first arrested the Dunkowskis in 2019 after officers found them and four kids – ages 5, 6, 9, and 13 – sleeping in a vehicle at the Woodbourne Train Station. The family was living in the vehicle and the nearby woods, authorities said.
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At the trial, Deputy District Attorney Matt Lannetti said the conditions in the vehicle were so bad that bugs were crawling around, there was trash piled so high the view of one child was obstructed, and there was a strong odor of urine and feces.
An evaluation by a doctor found the kids were malnourished and had urine-soaked pants. The two youngest were in diapers that had not been changed and a girl with cerebral palsy had bed sores all over her body, police said.
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Police learned the couple had more kids who weren’t with them in the vehicle at the train station.
One girl was found at a family friend’s home with serious neglect-caused dental problems. She couldn’t chew on one side of her mouth, authorities said.
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Another child was located in Falls Township and was malnourished and 30 pounds underweight, authorities said.
Albert Dunkowski told police the family ended up living in the vehicle and in a wooded encampment near the train station after they lost their home following a fight with a family member.
During the trial, prosecutors told the court none of the kids went to school and the family never had contact with social services agencies.
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The children are recovering from the neglect after being taken away from their parents, authorities have said.
“Being homeless is not a crime, being poor is not a crime,” Lannetti said during the trial. “Treating your children like this is a crime.”
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The Dunkowskis’ marriage license filed with the county stated the two married in 1996. Albert Dunkowski was born in Poland and lived with Bristol-native Christine Dunkowski (then Christine Barber) in Middletown’s Levittown section, according to public records.
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