Police: Children in deplorable conditions

A 33-year-old Lorain woman could face child endangerment charges after her several children were found alone in a Lorain home.

At 6:46 p.m. July 24, police were called to residence on West 18th Street to check on the welfare of small children, according to a Lorain police report.

A next door neighbor claims a maintenance worker, who worked on the house, told him the residence was disgusting, the report said.

The maintenance worker said there were small children in the home covered in cereal, and one had choked on a piece, according to the report.

He also claimed the children were not using a toilet.

When a Lorain officer knocked on the door, a 13-year-old child and a “awful” stench of spoiled milk greeted him, the report said.

Several trash bags and clothing were scattered about the living room and kitchen areas, the report said.

The child explained she was watching other children while her mother was at work, according to the report.

She also said her sister was upstairs trying to put the other children to sleep, the report said.

While upstairs, the officer saw two opened bedroom doors and one closed door.

One bedroom contained a mattress hanging off the box spring with no sheets or blankets and there was cereal and other food all over the floor, according to the report.

When police opened the closed bedroom door, a 4-year-old wearing only underwear greeted officers, the report said.

Officers also observed a 6-year-old under the bed and a 1-year-old who was wearing only a diaper, sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor, the report said.

To the right of the bedroom door was a closet door slightly open.

Inside was a 1-year-old wearing only a diaper, and it stretched down past his knees because it was full of feces, the report said.

A 2-year-old girl next to him had with what appeared to be cereal stuck in her hair as well as a dirty face, according to the report.

A 10-year-old and a 7-year-old also were in the closet, the report said.

In the kitchen, police found dirty dishes, some filled with moldy food, stacked up in the sink and along the entire counter top, according to the report.

Inside the refrigerator there was a bag completely covered in mold, the report said.

The downstairs bedroom, directly across from the kitchen, had clothes all over the floor and bugs were crawling on the bed sheets.

When the mother came home, she was told to check on her children and to change her child’s dirty diaper, but instead, she argued with police on the front porch and blamed her oldest child for officers being there, the report said.

The mother never went inside the house to check on her children and continued to yell at police according to the report.

Due to the conditions and the children being left alone, she was arrested on allegations that she endangered her children, the report said.

A Lorain County Children Services worker arrived at the home and took custody of all the children, according to the report.