Toledo mother whose kids were found in ‘inhumane’ living conditions avoids jail time

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A Toledo mother who was criminally charged after her kids were found in deplorable living conditions was sentenced on Tuesday.

Maryann Baran was convicted on downgraded charges for her role in a child endangerment case back in November. She pleaded no contest to four accounts of attempt to commit an offense, amended from endangering children.

Judge Connelly sentenced Baran on March 4 to 90 days in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO) with all of that time suspended for each count. She was also sentenced to a year of active probation and ordered to have no contact with the victim or her husband, Jason Baran, who was also charged in the case.

Toledo Police records said the kids were kept in “inhumane and atrocious” living conditions. Maryann Baran spoke with 13 Action News after we broke the news of her husband’s arrest for the deplorable living conditions officers found their four kids in. She told us her husband wouldn’t let her or the children leave the house and was too afraid to call for help.

“He said if his kids were ever taken, he would come after me and kill me,” Maryann Baran said.

Maryann Baran also claimed that if she talked back to him, he would hit her. She had her left arm in a cast when we spoke to her, and it was swollen and bruised from a time she said Jason stomped on her.

Jason Baran, the father of the children, was sentenced to 180 days at CCNO in October after he was convicted on three counts of Endangering Children.

Toledo Police arrested Jason on Aug. 31, 2024 when officers said they found his four children without clothes, food, furniture or lighting in the household. Officers said that the children were found completely covered in dirt, mud and feces. They also found gnats and flies where the children slept.

Police affidavits said one child had circular burn marks on their wrist that resembled cigarette burns. The charging documents also said the kids told officers stories of being molested.

Two of the children were of school age but have never been enrolled in a school, police said.

Family of Jason Baran, who wanted to remain anonymous, previously told 13 Action News he reported the living conditions to Children Services on multiple occasions. He said the agency originally told him there wasn’t enough evidence to do a wellness check, but later said the workers went to the apartment and didn’t find anything.

13 Action News reached out to the agency after the news broke to ask whether it was aware of the conditions. A spokesperson said she could not give us that information. She said the children are now being well cared for.

The case sparked an internal Toledo Police investigation after officers failed to report the living conditions to Children Services, despite responding to the home several times. That investigation determined officers failed to check the appropriate box on the report that would ensure the report was forwarded to LCCS. Additionally, had officers been more attentive to the notification needs, the children could have potentially received respite from the neglectful treatment sooner, the investigation determined.

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