A Connecticut mom is accused of leaving her four young children alone for days while she took a trip to New York.
On Nov. 8 Vernon Police were called to conduct a welfare check at a Terrace Drive home. When officers arrived, they found all four childrenaged 11, 6, 4, and 5 alone in the apartment, Kait8.com reported.
They said the three youngest children were found naked, while the oldest did not have any shoes. The two-bedroom apartment was covered in dirt and trash, according to police.
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Police described the living conditions as “deplorable,” with no beds in the bedrooms and the children sleeping on a pull-out sofa next to a dirty guinea pig cage, police said. Authorities said the children had no clean space to wash themselves or brush their teeth.
The kitchen was also filled with old food, toys, dirt, clothes, and trash. The fridge was empty except for expired milk and a bottle of juice. according to police. There were also human and cat feces on the floor and officers had to direct the children not to step in it multiple times.
Police observed the children were eating moldy food off the ground while they were in the apartment. A joint investigation with the State Department of Children and Families was launched and they discovered that 40-year-old Lindsey Powell had left her children to go travel to New York.
After completing their investigation the children were removed from the apartment. Powell, who said three of her kids were autistic, told police that she was overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for her children and had left to escape the stress.
Authorities believe she had no intention of returning to care for her kids. “It breaks my heart, said Shannon Moderacki, who was visiting a friend in Vernon.
Definitely jail time. Its terrible. Crimes against kids in my eyes are some of the worst, added Gabriel Rivera, who was also visiting a friend in Vernon.
Powell was charged with four counts of risk of injury to a child. She was arraigned in Vernon and held in lieu of a $250,000 surety bond.
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