Parents Arrested After Seven Children Found Living in ‘Horrible’ Conditions: Police

Kristina Hillhouse, 35, and Robert Hillhouse, 39 are facing charges. (St. Fran County Sheriff's Department)

The parents of seven children who were found living in deplorable conditions in Leadwood, Missouri, were arrested on a slew of charges, said police.

Kristina Hillhouse, 35, and Robert Hillhouse, 39, are facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child after police found their two children wandering around a neighborhood with no shoes and no clothes in November, KMOV reported.

When they went into the home, officials made a “horrible discovery,” said the report.

A 5-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl were found 50 feet away from their home, but they apparently didn’t recognize it, KMOV reported. The kids were with an older neighbor who told officials the kids lived in a yellow house where the Hillhouses lived.

In a police report, the officer said that based on his experience, a child not knowing where they live or not knowing what the outside of their home looks like is a sign the child has been inside the home for a long period of time. He added they are not able to see the outside world, the Daily Journal reported.

Police put the children into a police vehicle and went to the house. After knocking on the door, there was no response, according to the report. The door was apparently already open, and officials said it appeared unsanitary inside.

Officials found Kristina asleep in bed with a 5-month-old.

Then police discovered a child asleep in a chair covered with grime and human waste.

All of the children were wearing clothing “soaked” in urine and had human waste on their feet, the report said. The beds of the home were covered in decaying food and much worse, police said.

Department of Family Services officials were called by the officers.

A police report stated that while officers waited for Department of Family Services workers “to arrive the officer checked out the bathroom and saw a children’s potty chair on the floor by the sink which was overflowing with human” waste, the Daily Journal reported. Dirty diapers, overflowing toilets, and waste was all over the bathroom floor. The officer said the toilet likely wasn’t operating properly for some time.

The officer found more of the same in a children’s bedroom and in the master bedroom. He said the kitchen was one of the worst rooms in the house, with flies swarming around dirty dishes and overflowing trash bags, the Daily Journal reported.

Overall, the children ranged from a few months in age to 10 years old, the KMOV report stated.

Police are now requesting a bond of $150,000.

‘House of Horrors’ Update

A few weeks ago, a judge in California denied a request from Louise Turpin to participate in a mental health diversion program, a mother of 13 who allegedly abused and held them captive inside a home in Perris, according to People magazine.

Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Schwartz, however, said Turpin posed “an unreasonable risk to the public,” the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said in a statement.

David Turpin (3rd R) and Louise Turpin (2nd L) appear in court for their arraignment in Riverside, Calif., on Jan. 18, 2018. (Gina Ferazzi/Reuters Pool)

Louise Turpin, 50, and husband, David Turpin, 56, were  January with a number of counts of torture, false imprisonment, and cruelty to a dependent adult.