A Carson City couple face criminal charges of child endangerment after authorities found a baby crawling around in an apartment filled with trash, moldy food, pet and chinchilla excrement.
Katherine Denise Martin, 20 and Grant Austin, 21, each faces gross misdemeanor child neglect and endangerment charges after Carson City Sheriff’s Office deputies made the May 28 discovery at the College Parkway apartment. Bail has been set at $2,500 each.
According to the arrest report, authorities were dispatched to the apartment in reference to a welfare check. The person who reported their concerns said the was a baby inside the apartment and that when she entered hit she found urine and fecal matter throughout the floor with a small baby crawling around.
When Martin opened the door the arresting deputy was met with “an overwhelming smell of urine inside the residence,” according to the arrest report.
As the deputy looked down, he observed a pile of dog excrement on the ground near his shoes with an year-old male infant crawling over it. The woman invited the deputy inside where he discovered dog, cat and chinchilla fecal matter throughout the residence and in every room. The deputy also discovered moldy food, knives, alcoholic beverages, soiled diapers and trash located throughout the apartment on the floor within reach of the infant.
In the infant’s room there was excrement in and around the crib where the child sleeps. The dishes had not appeared cleaned in weeks and there was mold a few inches high on a “mystery meat” dinner in the Crockpot, according to the arrest report.
Martin and Austin stated there was no excuse for the dilapidated and unsanitary condition of their home but said they don’t have time, according to the arrest report. On the arrest sheet, Martin said her occupation was homemaker. Austin works in manufacturing.
Child Protective Services responded and the child was removed from the couple’s custody.