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Apr 17, 2009 4:21 pm US/Central
Parents Charged With Child Neglect In Squalor Case
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Father charged with child neglect, Joshua Benz.
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Mother charged with child neglect, Rachel Crowell.
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Brandon Schoolover is charged with theft, for siphoning gas.
A call to Dallas police about a possible gas theft ends with several arrests and the discovery of children living in deplorable conditions.
In all, three people were taken into custody early Friday morning.
Officers went to a trailer park in the 13000 block of Fish Road after someone called to report that people were siphoning gasoline from several parked cars.
When police arrived two male suspects took off on foot. After a short chase one of the suspects was caught and told police he thought the other suspect was inside a mobile home back at the trailer park.
Officers went to that trailer where, they say an extremely intoxicated person answered the door and gave them permission to enter. Once inside police found the suspect, hiding underneath a mattress, and also found four children. The youngest of the children was a infant, less than a year old.
Police Senior Corporal Janice Crowther describted the scene. "What they found was children in a very, very neglected situation."
According to officers, the trailer was dirty and potentially unsafe. The police report details fecal matter on the walls, floors covered with dirt, food and beers cans, and an infestation of roaches. Officers on the scene said they saw the insects crawling on the children as they slept. And one of those children, according to the report, was sleeping on a urine-covered sofa.
"They had no food, thet were living in filthy conditions with roaches crawling on them and there was nothing but alcohol in the house."
The officer also noted that there were several fist-sized holes punched in walls throughout the trailer, rotting food on the kitchen counters and while the refrigerator contained very little food, it was stocked with alcohol.
"Child Protective Services has got some work to do here to determine where these children go because obviously they weren't in a good place."
Neighbor
Bobby Selmon told CBS 11 News, "Well they be drinking and you know, ain't no good. I don't hang around them. Fact of business, I'm a tell ya the truth, I'm scared of them. So, I stay on this side and they stay on that side."
Two of the people arrested, Joshua Benz and Rachel Crowell, are the parents of the children and have each been charged with four counts of child neglect. In regard to the gasoline thefts, Benz and the third person arrested, 27-year-old Brandon Schoonover, are charged with theft.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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