2 Adults Arrested For Neglect Of 5 Kids
GARY, Ind. (STMW) - Police found five young children at home alone in Gary, Ind., Friday morning, then arrested a man and a woman after each said the other was supposed to be there.
Jamie Frost, 24, and James Maldonado, 28, face charges of neglect of a dependent. Frost was also being held on a Schererville warrant, Gary Police Lt. Samuel Roberts said.
A neighbor called police about 6:45 a.m. to report four children were on the front porch of the east-side home, crying and calling for their parents.
When officers arrived, they saw the children on the porch and near the open front door.
"One was naked, four were half-dressed," Roberts said. "One appeared to be sick and one had a large bump on the forehead."
Inside, officers found a fifth child asleep in the basement with an 8-month-old pit bull puppy.
"The house was in complete disarray," Roberts said. Police noted the house smelled foul, and found dog feces in a bedroom and the basement.
Police called for a crime-scene investigation team to document the conditions and contacted the Indiana Department of Family and Child Services to take custody of the children -- four boys ages 4, 3, 2 and 11 months and a 6-year-old girl, Roberts said. It wasn't clear if Frost and Maldonado were the parents of all five.
While police were still at the house, Frost arrived. She said Maldonado should have been at the house. Frost had walked to a gas station about eight blocks away to buy a single cigarette, she told police.
The children were taken to The Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus for evaluation.
Maldonado claimed that Frost was at home when he left for work that morning.
"They are both blaming each other," Roberts said. "Investigators will be looking into their statements to determine what happened and how long the children were left alone."
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