Sixteen Minors Discovered in Filthy Ohio Home; Four Family Members Jailed

Law enforcement in Vinton County, Ohio rescued sixteen children, aged 18 months to 18 years, from a cramped, unsanitary room. Parents and grandparents were arrested and face child-endangerment charges.

Sixteen Minors Discovered in Filthy Ohio Home; Four Family Members Jailed

On 30 July, sheriff's deputies carried out a search warrant at a residence on Ohmer Street in Hamden, Vinton County, Ohio. Inside they discovered sixteen minors who had been confined for approximately four years to a space barely twelve feet by twelve feet, living amid their own waste. Sheriff Ryan Cain told reporters the following day that investigators had encountered "pure evil."

The minors ranged from a toddler of eighteen months to an eighteen-year-old. Several could not speak; one young woman with a developmental disability was unable to write her own name. One child was critically ill and had to be intubated. After medical evaluation at local hospitals, some were released while others continued to receive care. Temporary custody has been granted to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Detectives established that the family had moved among several Ohio counties since 2008 and had largely avoided official medical and government records.

Four relatives—the minors' parents and grandparents—were taken into custody. They appeared before the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas on charges of child endangerment. Each remains in custody unless they can post bail set at three hundred thousand dollars. Prosecutors indicated that further counts may follow as evidence develops.

Source: Gazeta

Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)