4 Children Removed From House Of Filth In Uniontown
UNIONTOWN (KDKA) – The house looks just like any other from the outside, but code enforcement officers say behind the doors a family was living in deplorable conditions.
Photos show the mess inside – fast food waste piled on furniture, papers strewn down steps and in some rooms there's barely a place to walk.
Code enforcement was called to the home by the family's landlord.
"Animal feces, garbage, rotten food, toilets that weren't working, just deplorable conditions, I mean, the kids were living in an unsanitary and uninhabitable environment," Uniontown Code Enforcement Officer Mark Pasquale said.
Four children, ages nine to 13, were sleeping on mattresses with no sheets. The toilets were clogged and overflowing.
Neighbors were shocked when they learned what was going on.
"They seem like pretty nice people to me – I mean, me and my husband we talk to the boys all the time and we talked to their mom the other day," Susan Callaghan, a neighbor, said.
The young children are now in the custody of Children and Youth services. The animals are being cared for by an adult child who was also living in the home.
The children's mother works as a tour bus driver. Neighbors believe she was a single mom doing the best she could for her family.
"It makes you feel bad for the kids and the animals because I mean we knew she worked and everything, but I guess she had to work, she had to pay the bills and stuff, you know ... you gotta do what you gotta do to support your kids," Callahan said.
Code enforcement officers say this isn't the worst house they've seen, but it certainly isn't a place anyone should be calling home.
The house is now condemned, but the family could be allowed to move back in if the house is cleaned and other plumbing, heating and electrical issues are taken care of.
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