Background: The residence where authorities claimed the Forczyk children lived in unsanitary conditions (WFTV). Insets (top to bottom): Nathan Forczyk and Laura Forczyk (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office).
Authorities in Florida allege that a couple confined their six children in a house so run-down that officers described the air as “hard to breathe” upon entering. The children were reportedly kept in rooms with only a potty training toilet.
Law&Crime reviewed an arrest affidavit detailing charges against 42-year-old Nathan Forczyk and 41-year-old Laura Forczyk, both accused of six counts of child neglect. They were taken into custody on Tuesday but have since been released from the Brevard County Jail after posting a $30,000 bond each.
The investigation was triggered when Nathan Forczyk contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to seek assistance for his kids, according to WFTV, an Orlando ABC affiliate.
On Tuesday, upon entering the Forczyks’ residence, police discovered the six children locked separately in bedrooms, lacking access to “food, water, or restroom facilities,” as reported in the affidavit.
“Each child had been locked in a bedroom containing only a child-sized potty training toilet,” according to police.
The home’s condition was described as “severely deteriorated,” featuring drywall torn away, which exposed live electrical wires, according to the police. Officers noticed a powerful odor of cat urine, human urine, and feces, creating breathing difficulties. Both human and animal waste was scattered throughout “several parts of the house.”
Officers deemed the home “unsafe, unsanitary, and hazardous” to the health of the children.
After Nathan Forczyk was released from jail, he spoke to WFTV in an attempt to explain his family’s situation. According to Nathan Forczyk, four of the six children — ages 6 months to 7 years old — had nonverbal autism. He told WFTV that those children were not potty-trained, and their behavioral issues caused them to damage the home.
A spokesperson from the Palm Bay Police Department told WFTV that the Forczyks were a family “in desperate need of assistance” and “down on their luck.” Forczyk, who told the station that their children came from a “loving home,” had reached out to DCF for help.
Nathan and Laura Forczyk both face six counts of felony child neglect. They are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 30.
