After months of investigating, the Washington County Prosecutor's Office has charged a Warren High School teen-ager with the death of her baby whom she allegedly discarded in the trash and later possibly took to the Athens-Hocking Rec-lamation Center Landfill in Athens County.

The girl, who gave birth to the baby Oct. 26, 1998, will appear in Washington County Juvenile Court Thursday.

She is facing delinquency charges alleging that she committed acts that would constitute involuntary manslaughter if she were an adult, according to a news release from Mike Spahr, Washington County prosecuting attorney.

"It is an initial appearance in front of a judge for her to admit or deny the charges," Spahr said.

"If she denies it, there will be a hearing. But if she admits it, she will be sentenced later."

If she is found delinquent, the maximum punishment is commitment to juvenile detention until she is 21. The minimum punishment is probation, Spahr said.

The investigation began in early February when a Warren High School student told a teacher about the possibility of another teen-ager's pregnancy.

Investigators then were called in to question the teen-age mother who denied ever being pregnant. Investigators began searching the backyard of the home in which the baby was born.

After finding nothing, investigators began to search the Athens-Hocking Reclamation Center, where the baby's body could have been transported to by sanitation trucks that collected trash from the girl's home.

After further investigation, the teen-age girl admitted to giving birth to a baby, taping its mouth shut and double bagging it in trash bags before disposing of the body in the trash.

Washington County Sheriff Office investigators searched the landfill for weeks for the baby's body until the futile search was called off late last month.