A Tennessee couple is accused of keeping two children in deplorable conditions in a roach-infested home so filthy and congested that tables supposedly barred the front door from opening.
Leon Woods, 65, and his girlfriend Carol Phillips, 36, are each charged with two counts of child maltreatment after Chattanooga police discovered the children — both still in diapers, with one only a year old — during a wellness check at the couple’s house.
According to local ABC affiliate WTVC, police were called to the residence on Nov. 21 after an incident between the adults occurred.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police officers were unable to reach the front door due to multiple tables blocking their path, forcing them to knock on the glass instead. Woods eventually emerged and opened the door.
Once inside, the police were allegedly horrified by what they discovered.
The smell of decaying food and body odor reportedly dominated the air, and the residence was so filthy that there was no clear walkway through it, according to local enforcement. According to the investigation, roaches covered the objects on the front porch and the food in the refrigerator while also crawling on the police.
Police reportedly found one child in the house wearing only a diaper and crawling around the floor, which was also coated with roaches. That’s when Woods allegedly informed the authorities that there was another child in the house, a 1-year-old discovered sleeping face down on a soiled mattress in a bedroom.
According to authorities, the house was cluttered with dangerous items, including a sharp metal gate and nails on the floor.
A neighbor told the TV station she had spent weeks concerned about the children’s welfare and that police had visited the residence several times before the parents were detained.
“This child would just scream, and we would report it, and the police would come, and then the police would leave, and I never understood why nothing was being done,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. She also allegedly filed two child abuse reports in recent months.
According to court documents, Woods and Phillips are set to appear in court on December 5.
Woods is classified on the Tennessee sex offender registry as a “offender against children” and has been charged with breaking his supervision requirements.
