Kids lived amid drugs and squalor
A landlord whose family’s rental property in Richmond, near Nelson was turned into a ‘‘filth pile’’ by its tenants has questioned why Child, Youth and Family did not intervene to protect the children living there.
Nelson woman Sinead Ogilvie called CYF, concerned about the wellbeing of the 9-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl when she saw dogs living in their own excrement in the backyard.
She only discovered the true extent of the family’s situation last week when they moved out of the house owing 10 weeks’ rent.
‘‘The smell was just awful,’’ she said. ‘‘It smelled like human and dog s... and cigarette smoke.’’
Faeces were smeared on the floor and walls. A pair of children’s pyjamas in the hallway had ‘‘mouldy poo’’ in them.
Soiled nappies crawled with maggots. Masses of urine-soaked clothes sat on the laundry floor.
Every surface in the kitchen was sticky and covered with flies and mouse droppings.
A ‘‘rancid’’ pot of meat stew was left on the stove.
Drug paraphernalia was found in the cupboards alongside children’s clothes and toys.
Outside, more than 100 rubbish bags spilled over the pavement. The yard was flooded with sewage from a backed-up toilet. ‘‘The cleanest thing in the house was the toilet brush because they had obviously never used it,’’ Ogilvie said.
Ogilvie had to rip up the carpets and plans to test the house for methamphetamine contamination.
She suspected two broken doors and multiple holes in the wall were caused by the mother’s live-in boyfriend. Two weeks ago she asked the couple to tidy up the property. Instead, they threatened to ‘‘rape me and kill me and burn the house down’’, Ogilvie said.
Another concerned family member also asked the tenants to clean up but was unaware how unsanitary their living conditions truly were.
‘‘He was always asking her if there was anything he could do.
‘‘The only reason he let them stay was because he felt sorry for the two kids.’’ When Ogilvie contacted CYF she was told the family’s situation did not require urgent attention because their environment ‘‘wasn’t life threatening’’. ‘‘I said [to CYF] I would never forgive myself if something happened to those kids and their health.’’
She later found children’s medications in the house.
‘‘Neglect is just the tip of the iceberg sometimes. How many times will we ignore the warning signs?
‘‘How many times does this escalate before it’s too late?’’
CYF spokeswoman Helen Aiken said the agency took Ogilvie’s concerns seriously and were already involved with the family. It was working with other agencies to ‘‘assess the children’s needs and find a solution to the issues they face’’, she said.
‘‘The children’s welfare is the first and paramount consideration.’’
The grandmother of one of the children said CYF workers told her they were no longer involved with the family.
She called CYF several times over the past two years, worried about the impact of a dirty home and a string of violent boyfriends on her grandchild but said she was ‘‘fobbed off’’.
‘‘They said my concerns were not high priority and not abuse.
‘‘It was a closed case, they didn’t want to know.
‘‘The people at the top said: you have to wait for improvement but I’m over it. Those kids should not be living like that.’’
After battling with the children’s mother for several years, the grandmother said she ‘‘cracked’’ and cut ties.
‘‘When I first met this woman, I used to go around and take truckloads to the dump and it never got better.
‘‘I gave and gave to make their lives nicer, sheets and blankets for the kids, but where are they now?
‘‘Rotting in a skip. It’s getting too late for my grand[child] now.
‘‘[They are] already going to have the characteristics and the lifestyle traits of [the] mother.’’