FRANKFORT, Ind. -- Three children were placed in foster care and their parents were arrested on neglect charges after authorities found their home roach-infested and generally filthy, police said.
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Video: Police: Conditions In Home Deplorable
Susan E. Payne, 39, and Michael A. East, 45, were arrested Tuesday. Police said they examined the couple's home after receiving an anonymous tip that children were living there in filth.
The house was littered in places with animal feces and clothes, and every room was in deplorable condition, Frankfort police Capt. Jeffrey Danner said.
"The refrigerator was full of roaches. Greasy water in both sinks," Danner said. "The food -- what little there was in the house -- did not appear to be edible."
The three children living in the house, ranging in age from 5 to 15, were taken away by caseworkers. The children's clothing and skin were caked in dirt, police said.
Animal control officers also removed more than 30 tropical birds from the house,
RTV6's Jennifer Carmack reported Thursday.
Miriam Sheets, a neighbor, said the 5-year-old girl was always filthy. Sheets had let her daughters play with the girl.
Sheets said she talked to Payne about the girl being dirty.
"She knew," Sheets said. " 'I know, but I give her a bath,' she says."
East was being held Thursday with bond set at $1,800. Payne, accused of violating probation, was being held without opportunity for bail.
A judge will decide whether the couple can regain custody of the children, Carmack reported.
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