Seven children living in ‘deplorable’ conditions have been rescued from their Pennsylvania home, as their parents face a slew of child endangerment charges.
Pennridge Regional police say they discovered three girls — aged 12, 14 and 16 — living in their parent’s Sellersville trailer home that was ‘in obvious disrepair and disarray,’ with feces littering the grounds of the bedrooms and sheets that had not been washed in weeks.
Officials later found four other minors — girls aged 4, 8 and 10 and a boy aged 6 — hiding out in a back room of Shane and Crystal Robertson’s small home.
Six of those seven children were clinically malnourished, two had low kidney functions and three were diagnosed with acute viral syndrome, police said. Two also had to have their heads shaved because their hair was so matted, with one having maggots burrowed in their locks.
None of the children had received a formal education, and some did not even know their own birthdates.
Crystal, 37, and Shane, 47, are now facing seven counts of felony child endangerment — one for each child.
Crystal, 37, and Shane Robertson, 47, are facing seven counts of felony child endangerment — one for each child
Officers first became aware of the children’s condition when they received a report that two minors were entering an abandoned trailer adjacent to the Robertson’s home in Sellersville last month. The trailer is pictured here
Officers said in newly-released affidavits they were first made aware of the children’s condition when they received a report that two minors were entering an abandoned trailer adjacent to the Robertson’s home on April 23.
‘Upon arrival, they found a 12-year-old juvenile female in the front yard of 655 Roseann Lane, directly next door to 675 Roseann Lane,’ the affidavit stated.
The 12-year-old girl, who was barefoot at the time, then ‘began speaking to officers by explaining that her parents told them not to go over to the abandoned trailer and that her parents should not be held responsible.’
She said she was only breaking into the abandoned trailer next door to get a blanket ‘to keep her rats warm because her family does not have much money left.’
At that point, police said, a 14-year-old girl appeared from behind the neighboring property wearing ‘large work boots too big for her feet and had on clothing that appeared dirty.’
The responding officers then decided to ask their parents, Shane and Crystal, to let them see the children’s living arrangements.
Once inside, the officers noticed a bike lock on the fridge.
‘Crystal Robertson stated that they were going through so much food that she had to put a lock on the refrigerator because they were “stealing” everything, and referred to the children as “garbage disposals with legs,”‘ police wrote of the encounter.
Soon, police said, Shane asked his 16-year-old daughter to come out of hiding. He allegedly insisted that the teen was the last daughter he had.
But when police came back with representatives from the Bucks County Children and Youth office at around 5pm that night, they found four more children hiding in a back room.
Shane allegedly told the officers he did not tell them about the other children earlier because ‘he did not want to get in any trouble.’
Officers said the home was ‘in obvious disrepair and disarray,’ with feces littering the grounds of the bedrooms and sheets that had not been washed in weeks
Much of the home was also in need of repairs, with noticeable holes in the wall
The seven children were removed from the property and placed in foster care
Inside the home, police said, they found unsanitary living conditions, with a bad odor, several bugs and two dozen rats in cages, as well as feces on the floor and on a blanket.
‘The room that Shane and Crystal slept in had a bed in the middle of the room with several animal cages surrounding it,’ the responding officers wrote. ‘The sheets on the bed did not appear to have been washed in several weeks/months.
‘On the floor were items of garbage and the walls had holes in them.’
An adjacent bedroom was blocked off by a broken washing machine, court documents say, and did not have a door on it but was cluttered with dirty clothing and garbage strewn across the floor.
‘The third bedroom had feces on the floor in the front entrance,’ officers continued. ‘A filthy mattress lay at the center of the room with a dirty blanket on it.’
Much of the house was also in need of repairs, with holes in the walls.
Police also found at the home ‘two dogs, two turtles, two rabbits, snakes, toads and a four-foot reptile known as Tegu.’
‘The only notable food located in the home was for the animals,’ police noted.
Authorities noted in an affidavit that a 12-year-old girl said she was breaking into the adjacent trailer to get a blanket for her rats
All seven children were sent to a hospital to be examined and placed in foster care.
Over the following weeks, doctors found that all but one of the kids was clinically malnourished, two tested positive for COVID-19, two had low kidney function and three had fevers and were diagnosed with acute viral syndrome.
Two of the children also needed extensive dental treatment, two needed corrective eye care and two needed to shave most of their hair off because of severe matting — with one even having maggots burrowed in their locks.
It was also revealed that none of the children had received a formal education, and they struggled with reading, writing and spelling.
Some did not even know their own birthdates, and four suffered from speech impediments.
‘They all exhibited social anxiety and disclosed that they did not like being in public or around other people,’ the affidavits note.
The newly-unsealed affidavits detail how the children were malnourished and suffered a variety of ailments
A neighbor who spoke to WFMZ said he had no idea how poor the children’s hygiene was until he saw a copy of the police report.
The next-door neighbor, who was not identified, said he saw the children ‘running around in bare feet, same clothes every day.’
But when he received a copy of the police report ‘I busted out in tears.
‘When I got to the part where the one child’s head was covered with maggots, I just wanted to, it’s just hard to take,’ he said.
‘I just pray for the kids, I really do,’ the neighbor added. ‘I pray that they get to a better family situation.’
Shane and Crystal are free on bail, as their children are sent to foster homes.
A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for August 7.
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