A couple from Tennessee faces charges of child neglect after a police wellness check revealed two young children living in appalling conditions.
Leon Woods, 65, and Carol Phillips, 32, had an argument on Friday night that somehow reached Woods’ adult daughter, prompting her to contact the police, as reported by WTVC.
Investigators discovered that Woods had a criminal history, having previously pleaded guilty to raping a 10-year-old girl in Tennessee and molesting a 4-year-old girl in Georgia this past May.
When officers arrived on Friday, they found the path to the front door obstructed by tables, as detailed in an affidavit. They resorted to knocking on a window to alert those inside.
The officers reported a strong odor of rotting food and body odor emanating from the residence. They also observed roaches infesting the porch area, with some even crawling onto the officers.
Upon opening the door, Woods and Phillips acknowledged their argument, explaining it stemmed from Woods attempting to clean while Phillips was trying to sleep.
Through the open door, the officers saw a child clad in a diaper crawling on the floor, which was covered in roahes and some kind of sticky residue. Woods told the officers there was another child in the house and let them in to check the house.
The affidavit said the house was fully infested with roaches and was cluttered, with several full trash bags all over the house. They found the other child — a 1-year-old — lying face down on a filthy single mattress in a bedroom
The affidavit said the room was filthy with no clear walkway throughout. There were nails in easy reach of the child, and the window had a gate over it.
Woods again told the officers that he was trying to clean the house but Phillips wouldn’t let him.
When officers asked if the children had food, he took them to the kitchen, where he struggled to open the refrigerator door. When he got it open, officers saw roaches inside the appliance, crawling over what food there was.
Neighbors told WTVC that the couple had been reported to the state multiple times in previously months.
“This child would just scream, and we would report it, and the police would go, and then the police would leave, and I never understood why nothing was getting done,” a neighbor said, noting that she had filed a report in October and again earlier this month, showing the station the documentation.
Chattanooga Police said they had been called to the home on November for a report of a missing 2-year-old, but the child was found by the time they arrived. They were called again in October for something else not related to the children, but the officer supposedly made a report to child protective services about the condition of the home.
Woods and Phillips have been charged with aggravated child neglect, while Woods is also facing a violation of his sex offender charges. The two children were removed from the home.
