A Kentucky couple was arrested this week after a landlord’s call about the condition they left their apartment led to a child abuse investigation.
An arrest citation said that Casey Farthing and Stephanie Harmer left their apartment in “deplorable conditions” when they moved, and officers found the old apartment roach-infested and filled with dirty diapers, old and dried food, and human feces. WDKY reported.
Court documents said there was $2,500 in damage to the apartment.
Richmond Police found the couple at their new apartment, where conditions were not as severe but still had trash and feces thrown throughout, the documents say.
Worse, however, the officers found scratches and smeared blood on a wall inside a bedroom closet, the Lexington Herald reported. The door to the closet had a lock different from other doors and cabinets in the homes, and the couple’s 5-year-old daughter told Child Protective Services that her parents locked her two brothers — 8 and 9, both nonverbal and with autism — into the closet “when they’re bad.”
Farthing and Harmer denied the allegation and said the lock was on the closet when they moved in, although the landlord denied that claim and said there was no blood and scratch marks prior to their moving in.
Investigators found that the 8-year-old boy had dried blood on two of his fingers and a broken fingernail.
Harmer told investigators that she had gotten overwhelmed by the mess and stopped trying to clean, WDKY said. All of the children wore diapers and never brushed their teeth, the court documents say.
Harmer reportedly told police that she’d gotten overwhelmed by the mess and stopped trying to clean it. All of the children wore diapers and had never brushed their teeth.
Harmer and Farthing were charged with criminal abuse, unlawful imprisonment, and criminal mischief. They were given $25,000 bonds and barred from being in a caretaking or supervisory role with children if they’re released, the Herald said.
All three of the children were removed from their care, according to WDKY.
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[Featured image: Casey Farthing and Stephanie Harmer/Madison County Detention Center]
