A Connecticut mother was arrested after leaving her children, all under the age of 12, alone in a house filled with human waste, moldy food and smelling of rot, police said.
Lindsey Powell left her three daughters and one son alone in her Vernon apartment on Nov. 8, then subjected them to deplorable conditions inside, according to an arrest warrant reported by local media on Tuesday. I have doubts.
When police arrived at the house after receiving a call from a concerned neighbor, their 11-year-old daughter opened the door with her three younger brothers naked behind her. CT Insider reported. Citing police documents.
According to the newspaper, a police officer at the scene later wrote that he was “assailed by the smell of cat urine, rotten food, and feces.”
“The stench coming from inside the apartment stung my nostrils and made it difficult to stand in the doorway.”
The living room and kitchen had trash, dirt and moldy food strewn across the floor, and the kitchen floor was littered with human and cat feces, according to the warrant.
There were only expired milk and juice bottles in the fridge.
The pull-out couch where the children were sleeping had a filthy guinea pig cage with a guinea pig inside. There was no bed in the bedroom.
“The smell made it difficult to stand in the bedroom for more than a few seconds,” the agency reportedly wrote.
“But the children were able to come into this bedroom without any problems. They thought they were blinded by the terrible stench in the bedroom.”
On one occasion, he witnessed one of the children “eating stale pasta off the floor.”
The kids munched on frozen pizza the night before and ate it the next morning before they started scavenging for more food.
When Ms. Powell was contacted by a friend, she claimed to be back soon, but she never showed up. Police officers stayed with the children for seven hours until the state Department of Children and Families took over, and neighbors also came to feed the children.
At one point, Powell threatened suicide to his family, but he was later tracked to Poughkeepsie and arrested.
She was charged with four counts of risk of injury to a minor and was brought back to Connecticut on Monday, the newspaper said.
