Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Child abuse cases leave PTC neighbors wondering, Why?By LEE WILLIAMS As the couple accused of allowing their children to live in a house filled with human urine and feces prepares for their next appearance in court, neighbors are scratching their heads trying to make sense of the situation. Angela Lee Kaetterhenry, 24, of 109 Sweetgum Rd., and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Bryan Dennis Evans, were arrested on June 27 and charged with three counts of felony first-degree cruelty to children after one of their children wandered away naked from their home and ended up on a neighbors golf cart. When officers arrived at the home to return the child, who suffers from autism, they found feces smeared on the walls and their feet squished from urine and feces on the carpet. And thats not all police found at the home off Kelly Drive and less than a half-mile west of the citys Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater. They found hundreds of dirty diapers stuffed behind the sofa and in holes in the walls, police said. Some officers grew ill after visiting the home. A neighbor, 13-year-old Chitra Fortunato, confirmed it was her familys golf cart the 2-year-old child was found on. Peachtree City police arrived at the neighbors home about 5 p.m. and took custody of the naked child. One officer, Cpl. Brian Jantosciak, dipped into his pocket, purchased clothing for the child at Wal-Mart and dressed him, authorities said. Still uncertain of where the child lived, police went door-to-door searching for the boys mother. They spent about 45 minutes and they finally came to that house, said Fortunato, a student at Crossroads Christian School, pointing to a vanilla-colored home Kaetterhenry and Evans shared with their children, 2-year-old Christian Evans, 3-year-old Brooklyn Evans and 5-year-old Devan Evans. Crystal Johnston, 13, a Rising Starr Middle School student, lives next door to the family. Johnston said she often used to see the children in the home and around the neighborhood. The encounter wasnt always pleasant, she indicated. They used the bathroom on the floor, said Johnston, whose father, Mike, later joined her and her two friends on the porch. They would just stand in the window with no clothes on and would be running up and down the street with nothing on. A stench from human urine and feces in Kaetterhenrys yard was noticeable Tuesday. It was a scent the Johnstons had to contend with, Johnston said. We were doing the yard earlier and we walked down there and it was like really bad, Johnston said. Fayette County Department of Family and Children Services removed the children from the home Monday. The children are safe. But Fortunato indicated the ordeal could have ended a lot worse. They always tell you never to leave your kids alone outside, Fortunato said. Well, that kid could have gotten kidnapped and the mother would have never known about it. Landlord Steve Kiser, an attorney in Peachtree City, was shocked by the ordeal. He said he was unaware the family was living in those conditions and said it will likely cost him thousands to clean up the home, deemed unsafe for human occupancy by city officials until the situation is rectified. Its a property owners nightmare, said Kiser, who is also the president of the Fayette County Bar Association. Ive personally been in tenements in Harlem (N.Y.) and Ive never seen anything this bad. Kiser said this is the first time this has happened since he has been a landlord in 35 years. Kiser said he owns several rental properties and he hired a rental management company to oversee the properties. He said the couple only lived in the home for six months and never called to report a maintenance problem, and the company never detected a problem during rent time. Six months ago, it looked OK, said Kiser, a former federal magistrate. But when he did find out, Kisers crew wasted no time policing the home. The first order of business was removing the dirty diapers, which posed a health hazard. The crew also treated the yard to kill the stench, Kiser indicated. But the real cleanup cannot begin until the tenants have been evicted. He said he is the process of doing that now. Under the law, I cannot do that until they are no longer in possession, Kiser said. Kaetterhenry, who is seven months pregnant and admitted to using crack cocaine just two days before her arrest, is being held at the Fayette County Jail without bond. Methamphetamine also was used by the mother, police said. Evans also is in jail pending receipt of a $75,000 bond. Since the arrests, the locks on the doors have been changed, according to a note on the door. Georgia is a so-called landlord state. It generally takes about two months to evict a tenant. |
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