A couple has been charged with child endangerment and animal cruelty after authorities discovered a home so squalid it was not fit for human habitation.
Gimmi Ann Rhoads-Haro, 37, and her boyfriend, 39-year-old James Dean Leep, lived with Rhoads-Haro's two children at the Pine Hill Apartments in the Tamalpais Valley area of Mill Valley.
Police were called after the apartment manager had received a number of complaints about the smell of the couple's dwelling.
Authorities found the apartment's carpets soaked with urine, cat and dog feces strewn about, piles of garbage throughout and cleaning products within reach of the children, according to an affidavit filed in Marin Superior Court.
Police found Rhoads-Haro's two children, a 5-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, walking barefoot on the urine-soaked carpets. The girl's hair was matted from filth and she was wearing a diaper because she was afraid to use the toilet, Rhoades-Haro told police.
``It was terrible. It was totally terrible,'' said sheriff's Sgt. Glen Godfrey.
The Marin Humane Society rescued four cats and an aging pit bull. The dog and cats had bad skin and flea infestation. The dog also had open sores, overgrown toenails, tumors and ear infections.
County social workers took the children away, and the Humane Society took custody of the animals.
Rhoads-Haro was charged with four counts of child endangerment, four counts of cruelty to an animal, one count of keeping an animal without proper care and one count of resisting arrest, according to a complaint.
Leep was charged with the same charges, except for resisting arrest. Both are being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. Case UpdatesA Mill Valley woman and her boyfriend were ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges they raised two malnourished children in a squalid apartment with diseased and flea-infested animals.
Gimmi Ann Rhoads-Haro and James Leep, who are not in custody, are scheduled to return to court Oct. 15 to set a trial date.
Judge John Sutro, hearing testimony from sheriff's deputies and Marin Humane Society officers during a preliminary hearing Wednesday, ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.
Rhoads-Haro, 37, and Leep, 39, were charged with numerous counts of animal cruelty and child endangerment in June after investigators searched their two-bedroom apartment on Pine Hill Road. Investigators found piles of feces and garbage, ash trays filled with cigarette butts, sick animals and two small children exposed to the filth.
The children, a 2-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl, were both partially clothed and walking barefoot on carpets soaked with urine from the family's pets, investigators said. The animals included an aging pit bull with tumors and open sores, and four cats suffering from fleas, crusty skin and dental disease.
Authorities began investigating the case after neighbors expressed concern for the children and reported an overpowering stench coming from the apartment.
Rhoads-Haro and Leep have pleaded not guilty. | Source: Marin Independent Journal - Oct 3, 2007
Update posted on Oct 7, 2007 - 2:48AM |
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