Three Adults Charged After Children Found With Cigarette Burns in Oklahoma

Christopher Logan (L) and Megan Logan have been arrested and face charges that include child abuse, in Ponca City, Okla. (Ponca City Police Department)

Three people in Ponca City, Oklahoma, are facing felony charges after two young children were found living in filthy conditions and bore the signs of physical abuse.

Christopher and Megan Logan—the toddlers’ parents—have been charged with child abuse by injury, child neglect, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, according to local media KFOR.

The third adult to face charges in connection with the incident is Ricky Logan, father of Christopher Logan. He reportedly lived with the family and faces charges of enabling child neglect, enabling child abuse, and failure to report child abuse.

Investigators said that the bodies of the two children—a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old—showed signs suggestive of abuse, including cigarette burns.

‘Filth, Trash, and Animal Feces’

Police initially responded to a call by a concerned citizen who told the dispatcher that two children were playing outside unsupervised and appeared filthy and neglected, KFOR reported.

Inside the house, investigators found the living room was full of “filth, trash, and a mattress with animal feces on top of it.” Cockroaches were also reportedly found throughout the house.

“Enough that the officer felt like it needed to be an emergency situation to look into,” said Ponca City Police Capt. Randy Tyner, according to the news outlet. “The officer contacted DHS to come to the scene so they could be a part of the investigation from the beginning.”

The children were taken to the hospital and examined for injuries.

Police said the DHS worker told them there was “a cigarette burn on the 3-year-old’s left shoulder, bruising on the 2-year-old’s left butt cheek, which appeared to have some sort of pattern.”

The 2-year-old also reportedly had lice and there was “dirt and filth throughout both children’s bodies.”

Drugs in the Playroom

According to an affidavit cited by KFOR, Megan Logan told the police that she smoked methamphetamine but claimed she did not consume the narcotic inside the home. She reportedly told police she kept “her stuff in the kid’s playroom out of reach from the kids.” Christopher Logan reportedly admitted to police he smoked marijuana and that he—like Megan—stashed drug paraphernalia “in the playroom.”

“We do see that sometimes,” Tyner said. “Parents will keep it where the kids play, they don’t think the police will look there but that is a particularly sad portion of the case, that’s for sure.”

Investigators said that inside the children’s playroom they saw more “filth, trash, and animal urine.”

KFOR reported that investigators found a cardholder box located “on a bed which had a child’s pillow on it that was in the playroom.” The box reportedly contained “an open-ended light bulb with a white crystal-like substance inside of it, a nail file, a plastic straw with a blue bottle cap around it and a white crystal-like substance inside of it, two earrings, a needle pusher, a Visa debit card addressed to Christopher Logan, a broken light bulb with pieces of glass, a portion of an orange plastic straw, a portion of a white plastic straw, a blue pen, and a razor blade.”

Police said Ricky Logan told officers that he “didn’t have any idea there were drugs being used in the house, and I didn’t know about the condition of the house. My room was that first bedroom right by the front-door that Christopher was sleeping in. I stay in my room, and I work a lot. I just don’t know what’s going on in the house.”

Tyner told the news outlet that the claim that he wasn’t aware of the alleged abuse the children suffered likely is “going to be his defense in court, and it’ll be up to the court to decide from there.”

Locked in a Dog Kennel

The case recalls an earlier incident in which deputies in Texas uncovered a scene of child abuse that included two children locked in a dog kennel.

According to a WFAA report, authorities in Wise County responding to a domestic violence call on Feb. 12 at a residence about 30 miles north of Fort Worth.

The Wise County Sheriff’s Department said responding deputies found a man with cuts to his face and as they spoke to the couple about the incident, they heard the sound of children coming from inside a building. When they investigated, Sheriff Lane Akin said deputies found two children locked together inside a dog kennel.

‘Covered in Urine and Feces’

Investigators then searched the property, according to the Wise County Messenger, and found two more children, who were dirty and emaciated.

“The others appeared malnourished, covered in urine and feces,” Akin said, the Wise County Messenger reported. “There was food in the house, but it was locked up where the kids couldn’t get it.”

Akin said the children’s ages were 5, 4, 3, and 1, and all suffered from malnutrition. The two oldest children were the ones locked in the dog kennel.

The sheriff told reporters both the man and woman have each been charged with four counts of endangering a child.