Children found with lice, scabies in home with ‘feces strewn about;’ 3 arrested

WOLCOTTVILLE, Ind. (WANE) — Three people have been charged with neglect after five children were found in a Wolcottville home with lice, scabies, and a baby, severely malnourished and in need of emergency care.

On Feb. 28, child welfare workers received a report about a 3-month-old in a “severely malnourished state” at a home at 209 S. Albany St. in Wolcottville. Investigators and Wolcottville Police went to the home later that day

According to a probable cause affidavit, a man who answered the door – Paul N. Martin – told police they needed a warrant to enter the home, but police had an “emergency removal order” and placed Marin in custody. Inside, a woman – Cheyenne Stiner – was detained for refusing to allow police in the upstairs of the home.

In the home, police found “large amounts of trash and feces strewn about the house,” and the house had “no running water, no proper bathroom and no proper beds,” according to the affidavit. Two mattresses upstairs were surrounded by trash, feces and dirty diapers, the document said.

Authorities found five children – ages 7, 5, 4, 1 and the infant – upstairs; all were taken to a local hospital for treatment. The 3-month-old was “severely emaciated and malnourished and rushed to the emergency room,” the affidavit said.

The 7-year-old was treated for head lice and scabies, and the 4-year-old was found to have a severe case of head lice and scabies coupled with a rash from her incessant scratching. The 1-year-old suffered from head lice, scabies, a double ear infection and pneumonia.

The 3-month-old was found to be hypothermic, extremely dehydrated and emaciated and extremely malnourished. Emergency room staff had to drill a hole into the infant’s leg bone to run an IV.

The older children told investigators that they’d eaten a piece of bread for breakfast and nothing since, the affidavit said.

Stiner is the mother of four of the children, including two of them with 23-year-old Jerry L. Snyder and one with Martin. Snyder fathered another child found at the home.

Snyder admitted to police that the home was “a complete mess” and said, “we have no excuse for not taking the baby to the doctor,” according to the affidavit.

“I screwed up,” Snyder said, according to the affidavit. “I should have done things differently. I should have been on top of things and taken the baby to the doctor and made sure the house was clean.”

Stiner told police that the house has not had running water for “a month of two,” and said they didn’t have the “means or money” to take the infant to the doctor. When asked why the kids were neglected and the house was dirty, Stiner said: “We’re lazy.”

They’re now facing felonies.

• Snyder is charged with Level 3 felon neglect of a dependent and two counts of Level 5 felony neglect of a dependent.
• Stiner is charged with neglect of a dependent, a Level 3 felony; two counts of neglect of a dependent, a Level 5 felony; and neglect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony.
• Martin is charged with Level 5 felony neglect of a dependent, a Level 5 felony.