MARIETTA, Ga. — Three parents are facing dozens of child cruelty and drug charges after police said they found 15 children without food, living in terrible conditions.
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Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell reports that police say tips about child abuse led to this discovery.
Division of Family & Children Services called Marietta police after they received those tips.
Investigators said the victims were alone in a two-bedroom apartment with no food, toilet paper and only nine beds.
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“How can you justify having 18 people living under the same roof for an extended period of time with no food but money for drugs?” Chuck McPhilamy, public information officer for Marietta Police Department.
That’s what police said they discovered inside an apartment in Marietta last week.
“DFCS was notified either two different anonymous tips about two different children that were possibly being abused,” McPhilamy said.
Police say when DFCS showed up no one answered to the door, officers couldn’t get anyone to answer when they arrived.
“While detectives are working on getting a search warrant, the door pops open and out walks 15 different children. Mind you, we were only there for two,” McPhilamy said.
Channel 2 Action News isn’t identifying the 17-year-old son of the parents arrested who lived in the apartment, but he told Newell his parents didn’t do anything wrong.
“It looked like everything was packed up. We had bags packed up. We was packing up our clothes. We was getting ready to make a shift, make some moves,” the 17-year-old son of the household said.
The warrant says investigators found drugs in the home the victims could have easily accessed.
Police say there wasn’t toilet paper in the two-bedroom apartment that only had nine beds. Investigators said they found mold growing from a blanket.
They said some of the children required medical assistance. Investigators say the parents didn’t show up until three hours after officers arrived.
“Those three individuals are now facing over 90 felonies,” McPhilamy said.
“They are not monsters. They take care of their kids,” the 17-year-old son of the household said.
“What is most important to us is that regardless of if these children believe that it was normal or not, they are in a safe environment where they can get proper care,” McPhilamy said.
Police told Newell the children are now in a DFCS-approved home.
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