Johnny Hanson/AP
Posted on 02/22/2012 7:53:34 AM PST by null and void
One month later, authorities are still trying to find out how the children were there
Johnny Hanson/AP
Child Protective Services removed 11 children from this home in Dayton, Texas last month.
DAYTON, Texas — Texas authorities said Tuesday they removed 11 children from a crowded home where a registered sex offender lives after they found eight confined in a small, dark bedroom with restraints tying some to their beds.
Along with the children, 10 adults were living in the one-story, 1,700-square-foot home in Dayton, about 30 miles northeast of Houston, Child Protective Services spokeswoman Gwen Carter said. One month after a raid on the house, authorities are still trying to determine how the children are related and why they were there, she said.
The children ranged in age from 5 months to 11 years. Three who were age 5 or older had not been enrolled in school, Carter said.
The children were removed after authorities found two 2-year-old children tied to a bed during a January visit to the home, according to a court document.
A legally blind, 5-year-old girl "was in a restraint on a filthy mattress, and appeared to be in a daze," the document said. One child had a black eye and knocked-out tooth.
The adults told investigators they tied the children when they slept or took a nap during the day "for safety," the document said. An investigator noted that none of the adults said they saw anything wrong with the arrangement.
Two of the children had what authorities feared was pneumonia and were taken to a children's hospital. All have since been placed in foster homes, Carter said.
The case is still under investigation, and Dayton Police Sgt. Doug O'Quinn said officials are looking into criminal charges. Liberty County District Attorney Mike Little said his office would present a case to a grand jury next month, but he declined to discuss possible suspects or charges.
"Our primary concern was to make sure that the children were stable and safe," Carter said.
Three unidentified women leave the home after cops discovered the restrained children. (Pat Sullivan/AP)
The home with a "No Trespassing" sign out front is in a subdivision near land used for farming and ranching. A tricycle and other toys were in the backyard Tuesday, and several cars were parked outside.
People leaving the home declined to talk to media assembled outside, and other residents and their relatives declined to comment or didn't respond to phone messages.
One person in Texas' online sex offender registry listed the house as his address. Mark E. Marsh III was convicted in Michigan 15 years ago of criminal sexual conduct with a 15-year-old girl. He did not have a working phone number listed.
Neighbor Wayne Hardin said he never saw the youngest children and had no idea so many people were living in the house. Though he often saw eight or more cars parked outside, Hardin said he was told the residents had a big family.
"I was shocked," said Hardin, who had called police about loud music blaring from the house. "We didn't have a clue."
Along with the children, two teenage runaways with a stolen car were at the home, authorities said. The boys, both 16, admitted running away from foster homes, smoking marijuana and driving a car they knew was stolen, authorities said.
Carter said the home was not registered as a foster home or day care.
I agree completely, I was 22 and married when I had our dear daughter. While most of her friends’ parents are older than my husband and myself, they are not as much older as they may think, as we still look younger than we are.
I am currently pregnant with our 3rd baby. At this moment, I am wearing jeans and the oh so disgusting maternity top. Goodness, I do hope I’m not offending anyone, with my happiness at being, well, not knocked up, as I’m still married to the same man, but I am proud to be expecting a dear baby in a few months...I’m fairly modest (as evidenced by my hunt for swimwear that was not skin tight...would you believe I had to dig through bikinis with THONGS! for our upcoming trip, all I wanted was a skirt on bottom and something flowy and bust covering on top), but I do not see the need to wear a muumuu or hide under a huge sweater just because I am pregnant with my husband’s and my baby. Of course, I’m not going out with one of those belly tops (they have a hole for the belly to peek through). Perhaps I should stay at home and only venture out when my husband can escort me, so to avoid the possibility of passersby suspecting that I may be an unwed pregnant person...
I am not defending the photographed person. I do not know anymore than you, or the previous poster. I just wanted to back you up on the no need to be embarrassed about being blessed with a baby front. :)
LOL. I’m in a funk today. Your wit was not wasted though. I get it now.
I was just to a Dr in GR and he said that most of the houses in that area are divided into at least 6 apartments and the govt is giving $1000 rent allowance/per. mighty big profit/apartment/house, huh?
And how many of those houses are owned by the same Democrat?
Re: the abortion issue, OH MY. They do this because they want to, not from any looks they may get. They alone are responsible for ALL their decisions, they chose to get pregnant and they chose to abort. DECISIONS
What God has created is beautiful. We are talking about the exposure of the pregnant body, which is not appealing and should be covered by more than a TSHIRT.
Sorry about the stares you got, and can't tell the reason for that.
I had 4 children, and NEVER was I stared at and I appeared much younger than I was as well. I wore PROPER MATERNITY CLOTHING. Modesty.
Ten adults and 11 children - 21 people - ‘living’ in a 1700sf house!!!!
No matter what else happened, the authority roles of the adults, toward the children, simply in a reality sense, had to be akin to living in a commune.
It would not seem odd at all, given the circumstances, that some of the children were restrained to keep them from pestering the adults for attention. G-d only knows what the ten adults were up to.
Pray for the children.
Could be worse.
(Don't miss the pic at the thread source)...
Annie, just ignore it. One poster here said I was judgemental and that my judgement must be better than Gods.
We never said we weren’t sinners, but there are those that are so intent in getting out their opinion according to the way they live they never once consider themselves to be wrong. Saying someone is harming people because someone defended modesty and morality is juvenile.
Yes, I am a sinner but I have never gone halfnaked in public nor have I ever done drugs. Some people need to crack a bible and not only read the words but listen to them and understand them. I am not a judge, that’s the Lords job, and if it offends some because others have the guts to see the difference between good and bad then so be it. Judge away and the Lord will take care of the rest.
Hang in there Annie.
tell me I just crossed over into the twilight zone?
Just? Nahhh, you crossed over years ago.
You just noticed...
Nothing really surprises me anymore.
I wonder how many of the men were ‘disabled’ - that’s the newest scam - mental disability. The papers need to report HOW these monsters were staying alive... Like you, I’ll bet it was on the taxpayers dime.
Annie have you tried to buy maternity clothing lately? Even our local Wal-Mart does not even have much of a selection. Once I was in Jo-Ann Fabrics looking at sewing patters when a pregnant woman and her mom were looking at patters. The mom to be was griping out loud about how she could not find maternity clothing anywhere. Then she could not find any sewing patterns for them! I looked myself, and only Burda had any. The other companies McCalls, Simplicity, and Butterick all had tabs for Maternity but no patterns! Only one in uniforms and that was a scrubs with a panel for pregnant woman.
What has happened to all the “Mommy and Me” type stores? There are none in my area!
If this were Mass a Taxes, I would think the sex offender was a foster family for the government.
I have no idea about this, maybe they were Mormon or one of those “Children of God” cult houses?
What a “lovely” leftwing vision of a family.
Liberaltarians won’t find anything wrong with this I would think.
Planned Parenthood?
That and I think Texas doesn’t have an express lane that’s fast enough. (Ron White reference)
What can be done if no patterns or outlets are available, perhaps take a large mans shirt and decorate or redesign. There is also the "large womens dept", wear the over size clothes.
It is just my opinion that modesty is rare these days, and I long for it's renewal.
The new Princess style of blouses are everywhere, and they do look like maternity clothing to me. I see older women wearing these, I think to hide a large middle section. haha.
I would never wear such and hate the look. I wore so many maternity cloths in the past and after 9 months of looking like that, I couldn't wait until I shed them.
Good luck
If I were to guess, my bet would be that this is a drug house, given the runaways staying there.
I suspect it offered grass, meth, heroine, whatever, and prostitutes all in one convenient location...with these poor kids forced into the protitute role for druggies who want that.
I think you might be right.
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