Crime & Safety
Charges Dropped Against Mom Who Allegedly Hit Daughter for Not Having Abortion
Magdalena Mateia-Bitlan, of Lower Macungie, has repaired her relationship with her daughter after counseling, her attorney told The Morning Call.
By Jack Tobias
Charges were dropped this week against a Lower Macungie woman who had been accused of attacking her pregnant teenage daughter and threatening to kill her and the unborn baby after finding out the daughter didn’t get an abortion, according to published reports and online records.
The attorney for Magdalena Mateia-Bitlan, 37, of 7740 Scenic View Drive told The Morning Call his client had successfully completed family counseling and that mother and daughter had repaired their relationship.
Charges of terroristic threats, simple assault and harassment were dropped Tuesday during a preliminary hearing before District Judge Michael Faulkner, online records say.
Mateia-Bitlan's attorney, Angelo T. Almonti, told The Morning Call his client was shocked at her daughter's pregnancy and had overreacted. He said mother and daughter had repaired their bond with counseling.
In a Patch story at the time Mateia-Bitlan was charged, police provided the following account:
Mateia-Bitlan had kicked her daughter out of the house about two weeks before learning of the pregnancy and then invited her daughter to come back home on Monday, June 10. The daughter returned home the following day after school and was in the kitchen getting something out of the refrigerator at about noon when Mateia-Bitlan asked her if she’d had an abortion.
When the daughter informed Mateia-Bitlan that she had not had an abortion and did not plan to get one, Mateia-Bitlan told her to go upstairs, pack her things and leave. Mateia-Bitlan followed her daughter upstairs, shoved her in the belly and continued to punch her in the belly.
The daughter then lay on the bed face down to protect her stomach. The mother continued to hit and scratch her daughter in the back, yelling that she hates her, wants her dead and was going to kill her and her baby.
The daughter grabbed her belongings and got out of the house. Her mother followed her outside, throwing things at her.
The daughter reported the alleged attack at state police at Fogelsville barracks later that day.
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