Charges to be filed after 19 kids found alone in filthy, hot Kentucky home

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Authorities plan to file charges against a man and a woman accused of leaving 19 children ranging from 8 months to 14 years old unattended for a week in a sweltering, filthy home near Bowling Green.

The children were found Monday night in a small three-bedroom rental home near Interstate 65 by officers who were responding to a complaint from a neighbor. It was littered with dog feces and had no air conditioning, Warren County Sheriff's Detective Tim Robinson said.

"It's such an unusual circumstance to find 19 children like that, we're still putting things together right now," Robinson said.

The adults, Irving "Joe" Smith and Jackie Farah, left town on June 27 and told a neighbor to check on the kids, Robinson said. They are expected to face charges when they return.

"It looks like a blended family," Robinson said, with some of the children related to Smith and others related to Farah.

The home was a sweltering 90 degrees when officers arrived, Robinson said. Temperatures had reached 101 degrees in Bowling Green earlier that day. The children were treated at a local hospital and then placed into protective custody.

Officers also removed nine dogs and a cat from the home. They found an inch of dog feces in one of the rooms and very little food for the children, Robinson said.

Sadly, I also found this obit from 2 years ago for a 3 month old girl who appears to be this same couple's daughter:

ELKHART -- Arianna Vera Lou May Farah, 3 months, of Elkhart, died Wednesday (March 31, 2010) at her home after suffering a sudden illness. She was born Dec. 24, 2009, in Elkhart.
She is survived by her parents, Iriving D. Smith and Jackie E. Farah of Elkhart; five brothers, Dionadre, Irving, Terrell, Aheme and Ahmir; five sisters, Kira, Kayanna, Kaleese, Kamaria and Ahmira; her grandmothers, Fatinah Latif of Richland Center, Wis., and Vera Smith of Elkhart; a great-grandmother, Evelyn Farah of Alpharetta, Ga.; and a host of family and friends.
Preceding her in death are two sisters, Ivryelle and Ivryonna

...3 dead children in this 'family' history, 19 left to fend for themselves (apparently often), and I wonder how much they are collecting from the state every month?

From the newspaper in Bowling Green:

Robinson said officials are sorting out to whom the children belong. Two of the custodial mothers have been staying at Hometown Suites since Tuesday, when they were contacted by the sheriff’s office concerning the children.
The children are also from several states, Robinson said, which complicates custodial issues.
“If they are from another state, Kentucky child services can’t check on them” if they are released to other parents, he said. Closed hearings were set for today in family court to explore those issues, he said.

With family life in total collapse, the only thing left is government bureaucracy which, not surprisingly, is tied up in red tape.

Sad story.

But let's be clear -- the idea that "Somebody should do something!" or "Isn't there a law against this??" or "Society needs to help those kids!" -- all such thinking is exactly how we got Obamacare.

I believe that neighbors, churches, and benevolent societies should be able to help people in trouble. But I do NOT want anyone with legal authority to "fix" the situation mentioned in this article. That may seem cruel, but people who value freedom should understand that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I agree about that the community should step in but these days people don’t want to get involved. From the obits, there are grandparents around, so where were they? Where are the kids’ other parents? Did they wash their hands of this family or do they simply not care? The neighbor who turned them in couldn’t be bothered to do anything but dial a phone. Other neighbors were aware of the situation but none stepped up to the plate.

I’ve been on many home visits and have seen some sights. Yes, these kids needed to be taken into custody under neglect and lack of supervision but NOT for not having an A/C. How ridiculous. Good grief, there were many places I lived that didn’t have A/C. I was without A/C for several days a couple weeks ago and it was pushing 110. Amazing how mankind has managed to survive without central heat and air for all these eons. I’m betting the state regs don’t mention A/C and the deputy was putting on for the reporter. I also suspect his threat that the parents would be arrested won’t go far since the parents can claim they made arrangements with the neighbor. I don’t know KY laws but in most states, the regs state the utmost goal is to keep the family together. The younger kids will probably be put into foster care and the older ones returned to the parents. There will be a CPS worker to supervise the home and make sure it’s cleaned, with plenty of food and proper supervision. If after 3-6 months, if everything is up to that specific CPS’ expectations and the judge’s expectations, the younger ones will probably be returned and there will be continued CPS supervision of the home. Of course, as soon as the parents get all the kids back, they’re likely get fed up with being interfered with and pack their bags to another state.

I’m not letting the parents off the hook by any means but a kid over the age of 6 can dispose of poop. Fourteen is high school. Those teens have been out in the world long enough that there’s no excuse for not cleaning up a bit. I have seen homes where the parents were filthy slobs but the kids managed to keep their rooms neat.

As for the babies who died, my first thought were twin premies. Unless charges were filed against the parents then we don’t now why the 3 month old died. It could have been sudden death syndrome or something else that was cleared by officials so no knee jerking here.

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