UPDATE @ 7:30 p.m. (June 24)
An 8-year-old child removed from a deplorable apartment “is in a safe environment,” Montgomery County officials said Friday evening.
The child’s parents, Jerry Welch and Charmion Borton, were in court this afternoon for a hearing on child endangerment charges, during which time the court was to determine the child’s placement. The boy was dirty, barefoot and he hadn’t eaten when police were called to the boy who had been locked out of the apartment he shared with his parents and at least five cats.
Children Services cases are confidential, so the county was not able to release whether the boy was placed with relatives or in foster care, said Cathy Petersen, director of communications for Montgomery County.
UPDATE @ 2:11 p.m. (June 24)
Brookville police Chief Douglas Jerome said police were alerted to the deplorable conditions in this apartment by a concerned neighbor around noon Thursday. An officer found the 8-year-old boy outside the locked apartment with no shoes and in dirty conditions.
Jerome said officers were not lucky in locating the parents, so the apartment complex was contacted to gain entry into the residence. Jerome said it was a “rare occasion” for the officers that had to wear protective suits and use air packs due to the strong odor.
Inside, officers were faced with dirt, bugs, insects and at least five cats.
“One of the worst that I’ve seen in our city; when you have an 8-year-old in that environment … there are so many resources that we can provide to help people get help, food, shelter and things that they need, we were kind of shocked about that,” Jerome said.
Jerome said there were many government agencies there, including the animal resource center, zoning, police, fire, children services and the health department.
“This was an all hands on deck,” Jerome said. “This is no condition for an adult or child to live in.”
The biological parents charged with child endangering, Jerry Welch, 71, and Charmion Borton, 41, appeared in court for a hearing today.
UPDATE @ 9:25 p.m. (June 23)
The parents of an 8-year-old boy left unattended today at a Brookville apartment that was condemned for filthy conditions have a history of animal cruelty, court and jail records show.
Montgomery County Children Services was called for the boy, and the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center was called today to remove five cats from the apartment of Jerry Welch, 71, and Charmion Borton, 41.
The couple in 2009 were charged with 14 counts of felony animal cruelty after police in Dayton were called to a Terry Street home to check on the welfare of their young son. A dead animal was found inside, along with more than a dozen dogs and cats living in horrible conditions, Dayton police said. Children Services took custody of their son.
[ Related: Couple faces charges of animal cruelty ]
The charges were later dropped because of problems with law codes used to file the charges, according to prosecutors.
Welch was sentenced to jail for a Dec. 21, 2005, animal cruelty case when Dayton police found a dog frozen to death and another chained to a pole, barely alive, at his Geyer Street home. Borton also was charged in that case, but charges were dropped.
[ Related: Man gets 13 days in animal abuse case ]
UPDATE @ 8:01 p.m. (June 23)
The parents of the 8-year-old boy left unattended in a Brookville apartment have been arrested on a charge of misdemeanor child endangering, Police Chief Doug Jerome said in a prepared statement released moments ago.
Jerry Welch, 71, and Charmion Borton, 41, were interviewed by a Brookville police detective and the police department determined there was enough information from that interview, and evidence found by the officer sent to the address, to pursue the charge against each of them.
UPDATE @ 6:50 p.m. (June 23)
An 8-year-old boy left unattended was dirty, had no shoes and said he hadn’t eaten when police officers responded today to an apartment complex to check on him, said Brookville Police Chief Doug Jerome.
“Wall to wall trash, flies, bugs, you name it,” Jerome said of the residence in the first block of West McKinley Street that the chief called the worst conditions he’d ever seen.
Three Montgomery County agencies — including the health department — and three city departments responded to the apartment that is now closed by order of the city of Brookville.
The boy is in the care of Montgomery County Children Services, but before that an officer bought him a Happy Meal for lunch, the chief said. His parents turned themselves in around 6 p.m. and were being interviewed by detectives at the police station, Jerome said. The parents face charges of misdemeanor child endanerment and most likely will be booked tonight into the Montgomery County Jail, he said.
At least five cats were in the apartment. Three were removed, and animal control officers from the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center said they’d have to return and use traps to capture another two cats inside.
Police officers and others who entered the apartment donned protective gear and air packs because of the conditions and strong smell, the chief said.
A neighbor said the little boy wasn’t being watched and was outside the locked apartment this afternoon when police responded.
“They then made entry into the home somehow and found the conditions pretty bad in there. Next thing you know the animal shelter was here pulling out all these cats, wearing protective gear and everything,” said the woman who declined to give her name.
She said she had never been inside the apartment, but was aware the parents had a lot of stuff. She described the child as a nice little boy and said he was clearly upset watching the cats being taken out of the apartment.
Police and some neighbors had been in touch with the parents throughout the incident urging them to return home, but the woman said she thought they “were running scared.”
“I just want them to get whatever proper help they need so they can get their son back because they love that little boy,” she said.
FIRST REPORT
Police have been outside an apartment all day after they were called this morning to check on a child.
Officers were dispatched around 11:30 a.m. to an apartment in the first block of West McKinley Street, and were still on scene early this evening. They were called to check on the welfare of a child, according to Englewood police dispatch, which handles police and fire calls for Brookville.
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