Mindy Mooney (Macon County Sheriff”s Office).
Authorities in Tennessee have detained a woman on charges of subjecting her children to appalling living conditions, as reported by local law enforcement.
Mindy Michelle Mooney, aged 36, faces three charges of child abuse and neglect, according to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.
The troubling allegations stem from the environment in which several children were found living at a home along Tennessee State Route 52 in Westmoreland, a small community approximately 50 miles northeast of Nashville. This particular highway is commonly referred to by locals as Highway 52 West.
The identities of the children remain undisclosed.
On October 9, a detective from Macon County arrived at Mooney’s home following a request from a Macon County deputy and a Tennessee Department of Children’s Services investigator. The child welfare agency had sought police aid regarding a potential child abuse and neglect incident, as detailed in a complaint affidavit acquired by the Macon County Chronicle.
Once inside, the children reportedly relayed to the detective the grim reality of their living conditions. According to law enforcement, they described a home overrun with garbage and animal waste, strewn across floors, furniture, and even their beds.
The detective himself lent credence to those claims, describing trash covering the entire floor inside as well as the strong scent of animal feces said to be emanating from the Mooney abode.
The alleged victims went on to describe a life where they frequently had no food to eat, the sheriff’s office claims. Indeed, investigators noted that all of the food in the refrigerator and cabinets was molded over or otherwise ruined, according to the complaint affidavit.
But the allegedly filthy and neglectful conditions in the house were not the only issues, according to Detective Robert Jacoby.
The children also told the detective they were physically threatened by their parents, according to the sheriff’s office.
One victim is said to have recalled an instance when their mother advised their stepfather on the proper way to beat the children. The child said Mooney told her husband that, when he hits the children, to “make sure he hits them in the throat,” according to the affidavit.
Authorities also allege the children in the Mooney residence were pulled out of the local public school system and stopped attending any kind of educational or enrichment activities as of Sept. 1.
Citing the circumstances of the residence and the condition of the children themselves, Mooney was arrested, charged and detained in the Macon County Jail on $60,000 bond.
The defendant was slated to first appear in General Sessions court on Wednesday, according to the Chronicle. As of this writing, however, the docket for her case is not a matter of public record.
Law&Crime reached out to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
