Warning: Details of this story are graphic. If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, contact the statewide Child Abuse Hotline toll free at 877-597-2331 to make a report.
Editor’s Note: We have not included the names of the parents or the address in order to further protect the child’s identity.
Two parents are facing criminal abuse and child endangerment charges after the child was found playing in the roadway naked and “filthy and covered in bug bites” on Friday, and further investigation found the child was “being cruelly confined” in a house that was in “unlivable condition,” according to authorities.
According to authorities, shortly after 9 p.m. on August 23, a witness called OPD about a young child playing in a roadway.
“This child was not wearing clothes, appeared non-verbal, possibly autistic, and couldn’t give officers any information on who he was or where he lived,” according to an emailed statement from OPD Public Information Officer Mark Hammonds.
According to the arrest report, the child “was filthy and covered in bug bites, feces, and was naked.”
The Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) was notified to assist.
“Officers worked tirelessly throughout the night to identify the child and his parents,” Hammonds said. “On August 24, the investigation led patrol officers to a residence … where the parents were identified. The child had been with our officers and DCBS approximately 12 hours before the parents had been located. The parents had not contacted 911 about their missing child. The home was in complete disarray and uninhabitable living conditions. It was clear to patrol officers that the child was abused and neglected. Both parents were arrested.”
The parents were each charged with one count of first-degree criminal abuse of a child under 12 and one count of endangering the welfare of a minor.
According to the arrest report, officers spoke with the father who advised he was “just about to call.”
“The (father) advised he locked the child in his bedroom at approximately (10 p.m. on August 23). The (father) advised he did not realize the child was missing until he checked his room at approximately (8:30 a.m. on August 24),” the report says.
According to the report, the father gave officers permission to check the living conditions of the house.
The report reads: “The house was found to be in an unlivable condition. The common areas of the house were littered with trash and feces and [were] infested with bugs. Officer then checked on the child’s bedroom and found there was no furniture and the walls were covered in human feces. The floor in the child’s room was covered in trash including dirty diapers and ripped-up stuffed animals. The only bedding Officer observed was a ripped-up blanket laying in the floor amongst the trash and feces. The window appeared to have been pried open by the child in order to escape the room. The parents advised they regularly lock the child in his bedroom.
The child was being cruelly confined in living conditions that may cause serious physical injury.”
According to Kentucky Revised Stature 620.030(1), anyone with a reasonable suspicion that a child is dependent, abused or neglected is rquried to make a report to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, contact the statewide Child Abuse Hotline toll free at 877-597-2331 to make a report. You also may go online to the Child Reporting System Monday-Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time to make a report.
Reports are investigated by Department for Community Based Services. Based on information obtained during the investigation, services may be offered to maintain the family. Children are removed only if the home is unsafe, according to the
The Child Protection Branch provides consultation and state program guidance for child protective services cases. Central office staff helps develop standards of practice for inclusion in the state manual and provides real-time guidance to cases as required by field personnel.
