More than a dozen children were forcibly removed from their parents' care after they had been living in a home that officials described as being "infested and filthy."
The incident was shown in new body camera footage taken by Toledo police officers, where one can be heard asking, "What is that stench?" That was the first thing that the law enforcement personnel said while approaching the residence on Raymer Street on Aug. 10.
Children Living in an Infested and Filthy Home
Originally, police officers were sent to the home for potential animal neglect as a 911 caller, who knew the family living inside, said she was worried about a kitten that was supposedly paralyzed after being thrown down the stairs.
The police officers' body camera footage showed them talking to one of the adults living inside the home, Angel Oliveri, who denied knowing about an injured feline. When authorities entered the home, they continued their investigation and found a large group of children, according to Fox10TV.
Authorities said that they found 13 kids inside, the youngest of whom was an infant, while the oldest was 13 years old. When police continued to search through the home to look for any cats, they found the conditions as "deplorable."
The body camera footage showed bugs flying around the children and trash lying around on the ground. Court documents showed that police described multiple bug infestations and animal and human feces on the floor, noting that the kids did not seem like they had taken a bath in days.
In the video, one police officer can be heard saying that he needed his colleague to go inside and look around and tell him what they think of the entire setup inside the residence. Talking to Oliveri, one officer said, "It's one thing if adults want to live in filth, in their own filth, and not take care of themselves. You're adults, if you want to live that way, these kids didn't sign up for that," WWNYTV reported.
Arresting the Parents
Oliveri then explained that five of the children in the home belong to him and his fiancée, Cassandra Lambert. On the other hand, the other eight kids belong to Lambert's sister, who is also named Angel and lives with the couple in the residence.
The police officer later found Oliveri had a warrant for his arrest and quickly arrested him, and Angel was later seen arriving while the man was being handcuffed. The Lambert sisters were also later taken into custody by police.
There was a similar incident in 2018 where a nine-year-old boy was said to have suffered repeated flea bites because his home was infested. His parents allegedly failed to provide adequate education after taking the boy out of school, as per Care Appointments.
