Deltona couple face child neglect charges after daughter had cockroaches in backpack
A Deltona woman and her fiancée are facing child neglect charges after the woman’s 15-year-old daughter, who is deaf and mute, came to school in dirty clothes and with cockroaches in her backpack, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
The girl’s mother, Samantha Acker, was arrested on Tuesday after deputies arrived at her home on Clovis Drive in Deltona.
Deputies were responding to a call for assistance from a child protective investigator with the Florida Department of Children & Families, who visited the home following a call to the Florida Abuse Hotline.
Acker lives at the home with her four children, ages 16, 15, 10 and 8, and her fiancée, Christopher Rounds, who is the father of two of the children, according to the arrest affidavit.
Rounds also was charged with child neglect.
At the home, deputies found conditions to be in complete disarray, with floors, walls and furniture covered with mold, trash, decaying food, dirty clothes and cockroaches, according to the arrest report.
The report also noted that the refrigerator contained standing water, mold and roaches. There were dirty dishes in the children’s bedroom, dirty bed sheets that hadn’t been washed in some time, as well as roaches and other insects crawling on the beds, the report stated.
The report also stated that there were multiple animals in the house, including two large dogs, and that feces was present on parts of the floor and carpet.
Investigators also stated that the home’s air-conditioner was not working and the temperature in the house was around 85 degrees.
Ackers was arrested and charged with four counts of child neglect. She has bonded out of jail, according to county records.
Rounds also was also charged with four counts of child neglect and resisting arrest without violence.
DCF removed the four children from the home and temporarily relocated them with family friends, according to the arrest report.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida couple face child neglect charges after girl had roaches in backpack
