Police arrested two US parents after finding their seven children living in “unsanitary” and “unsafe” conditions – including caged rats and faeces on the Pennsylvania’s home floor.
Authorities responded to reports on April 23 of three children entering an abandoned trailer in West Rockhill Township, 64km north of Philadelphia, according to a police affidavit filed May 19.
When the police found the children, they spoke with the parents and returned them to their home next to the abandoned trailer.
There, the officers observed “deplorable living conditions” and a refrigerator secured with a padlock, according to authorities.
The mother, Crystal Robertson, told police she had to lock the refrigerator because the children were “‘stealing’ everything, according to the affidavit.
She referred to the children as “garbage disposals with legs”.
Parents face felony charges
When officers later returned to the home after filing a report with Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency, they discovered four more children inside.
The children were aged from 4 to 16.
One of the rooms had approximately two dozen rats in cages, according to the affidavit.
Faeces was found on the floor of another area of the home.
“There was also a bad odour … and several bugs,” the affidavit read.
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It was noted that “two dogs, two turtles, two rabbits, snakes, toads, and a four-foot (1.2 metre) reptile” were also in the home, the affidavit read.
None of the children had been formally educated and lacked basic knowledge, police said.
Some did not know their own birth dates, and four suffered from speech impediments, investigators said.
The children were taken into protective custody and transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
A later investigation revealed none of the seven children had attended school, according to authorities.
They also exhibited social anxiety, police said.
Authorities said medical evaluations concluded the children were “clinically underweight and malnourished.”
“Personal hygiene of the children was also found to be concerning, resulting in two of the children having to shave their hair due to severe matting,” according to Pennridge Regional Police Department.
The father, Shane William Robertson, and the mother were charged with seven felony counts each of endangering the welfare of children, according to the release.
Both posted the requisite 10 per cent of the US $10,000 bail amount, police said.
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