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The Bunnell Police Department in Florida discovered three children living in deplorable conditions, including a refrigerator with soiled and rotten food inside. They arrested Michelle Sofia, 38, and her live-in boyfriend Willie London, 41, on child neglect charges. (Bunnell Police Department)
A Florida couple are facing child neglect charges after cops allegedly found their three kids living in a home with deplorable conditions with layers of feces and piles of rat droppings.
The investigation started as an alleged traffic crash when the couple, Michelle Sofia, 38, and her live-in boyfriend Willie London, 41, contacted the Bunnell Police Department on Monday to say their 11-year-old had been struck by a car while riding a skateboard. However, the driver refuted those claims which were proven correct when nearby door cameras showed he stopped before hitting the boy. As officers were working on an arrest warrant for filing a false crash report, they were called back to the home on Tuesday after Sofia argued with a neighbor.
This time, cops went inside the home where the couple lived along with the 11-year-old and two other kids, ages 12 and 17.
“In a walk-through of the residence, the primary officer described their observations as, ‘Layers of dirt, piles of soiled clothing, layers of feces, and piles of rat droppings throughout the residence,”” the police department said in a Facebook post. “Within the residence were three refrigerators, of which two were inoperable and contained moldy food and bugs. There was no food or dairy in the third mini refrigerator except for a variety of condiments.”
The kitchen had dirty dishes on the stove and counters with cockroaches scurrying around. One bedroom had a thin mattress without sheets while another, where the 17-year-old stayed, had no bedding at all, cops said. A toilet was filled with feces as there was no running water in the home.
When a detective asked why the home was in such bad condition, Sofia responded: “I didn’t think it was that bad.”
The children told cops they hadn’t bathed in two days. London explained they were not able to shower because there was no water in the home and had to go to a friend’s house or a county park to bathe, cops said.
Officers called the Florida Department of Children and Families who responded to the home and removed the children. Police arrested Sofia and London on three counts of child neglect and one count of filing a false crash report. The couple are at the Flagler County Jail where they are being held without bond.
Florida Department of Corrections records show London has spent four different stints in prison, mostly for drug-related charges. Sofia does not have a prior prison history.
