FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) – A Marion County couple was arrested and charged with child neglect after police found children living in a “filthy house” with “random people in there using drugs,” according to court documents.
Crystal Trimble, 39, and Robert Trimble, Jr., 40, of Fairmont, are accused of allowing a 4-, 5- and 16-year-old to live in a house with cockroaches and no running water while random people slept there and used drugs, according to the Fairmont Police Department.
Police said they received a call requesting assistance from Child Protective Services for a home check on Cedar Street. When they arrived, neither parent was at the home, and a man said he was watching the children because Robert went to the store and Crystal had been gone all day. There were also three other males at the residence with the children when they arrived, police said.
When police entered the home, they saw cockroaches and other bugs running on the ground and the walls, a sink overflowing with dirty dishes with bugs crawling on them and two small mattresses in the middle of the living room floor, where the 4- and 5-year-old were sleeping.
The young children told police they used a whistle to wake someone up if they need something and that Robert smacks them in the mouth for discipline, according to court documents. Police saw infected wounds on one of the child’s legs and saw cockroaches running under the mattresses they were sleeping on. The oldest child told police he hadn’t had a shower in a week due to the water being off and that there was no food in the home.
Police also learned there was a closet in the home with a bed in it that random people would sleep in from time to time, court documents say.
When Robert was asked about the situation, he told police he had no idea who the people at the home were, denied drug usage and said he didn’t have a ride to take the child with the infected leg to the doctor.
When Crystal was asked about the situation, she said she hadn’t been living in the home for approximately two weeks because they’re going through a divorce and said she wasn’t aware there was no water in the home despite being there at least once daily, court documents say.
Crystal and Robert are each charged with three counts of child neglect creating risk of injury. Crystal is currently in the North Central Regional Jail.
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