A Lorain mother is facing child endangering charges after her eight children were found living in deplorable conditions this week. Police say one child was covered in feces and there were bugs and food all over the house.
Police were made aware of the conditions at the home on West 18th Street by a maintenance worker who described the home to a neighbor as "disgusting."
The maintenance worker told the next door neighbor that the children were covered in cereal and they were using the bathroom on the floor.
When an officer arrived to check out the house, he was greeted by a young girl. According to the police report, he immediately smelled an "an awful stench of what smelled like rotten milk."
"This house was in a pretty bad state," Akron police Lt. Ed Super told News 5.
Several trash bags and clothing were dispersed throughout the living room and kitchen areas.
The 13-year-old who greeted the officer identified herself as the person in charge of watching her seven siblings while her mother was a work. She said her 10-year-old sister was upstairs trying to put the other children to bed.
Because of the "deplorable conditions" inside the home, the officer continued upstairs to check on the welfare of the children.
When the officer went upstairs, one bedroom with the door open had a mattress hanging off the box spring with no sheets or blankets.
Across the hall, voices of small children were heard. When the officer opened the door, a 4-year-old was found wearing only underwear. Another 6-year-old child was found under the bed and another child was only wearing a diaper, sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor.
One of the children was wearing only a diaper, stretching down past his knees because it was full of feces. The officer also noticed feces on his legs and feet.
At this point, another officer and children services were contacted for assistance.
Police said dirty dishes caked with moldy food were stacked up in the sink. There was also moldy food in the refrigerator.
In the downstairs bedroom, directly across from the kitchen, clothes covered the floor and bugs were seen crawling on the bed sheets.
The 13-year-old who was in charge of watching her seven siblings called her mother, Quinn Washington. When she arrived home, instead of going inside to change her child's dirty diaper and check on her children as advised by the officers, she stood on the front porch arguing with officers and blaming her older daughter for the police presence.
According to police, Washington never went inside to make sure her children were okay. Because she continued to yell and cause a scene, officers placed her in the back of a cruiser.
"We've seen the language she uses around the little kids. It's pretty bad," a neighbor told News 5.
Washington was arrested for child endangering and was transported to the Lorain City Jail.
Lorain County Children's Services took custody of the children.
