It’s been less than three weeks since Rosie O’Donnell’s daughter ran away. And now, Rosie’s adopted daughter, Chelsea, has decided to leave home to live with her biological mother.
O’Donnell’s spokeswoman, Cindi Berger stated, ”Chelsea made a decision when she turned 18 that she wanted to go to her birth mother. This was her choice.”
Seventeen-year-old Chelsea ran away from her Nyack, New York, home on August 11. A week later she was found 100 miles away in Barnegat, New Jersey.
Chelsea was found in a home with a 25-year-old name named Steven Sheerer.
Though she told authorities she went to Sheerer’s house voluntarily, he has still been charged with distribution of obscenity to a minor and endangering the welfare of a child, authorities disclosed.
According to Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato, he was arrested Friday after investigators searched through Chelsea’s cell phone and found evidence of "inappropriate communications over the last several weeks between Sheerer and the minor.”
As part of the investigation against Sheerer, a computer and other digital equipment were seized.
Currently, Sheerer is being detained in the Ocean County Jail, with bail set at $40,000. A judged has issued a no contact order. Sheerer cannot contact Chelsea or her family.
It appears that Sheerer may face jail time. Each third-degree count that he faces carries a potential penalty of five years.
When Chelsea ran away, O’Donnell released a statement saying that her daughter had stopped taking her medication for an undisclosed mental illness.
The statement on her website said that Chelsea "is in need of medical attention.”
For now, Chelsea will live with her biological mother. Certainly, this story will have more to come.