4 boys found in filthy home spoke in grunts, were malnourished and not toilet trained

[n2doc]

DENVER - Four children found living in a Denver home full of flies and cat feces were severely malnourished and could only communicate with each other in grunts, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday.

The boys' parents, Wayne Sperling, 66, and Lorinda Bailey, 35, are charged with multiple counts of child abuse.

The investigation began when Bailey took her 2-year-old son to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital to be treated for a cut on his forehead on Sept. 29.

The child was non-verbal, unwashed, and smelled like cigarette smoke, according to the emergency room doctor.

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http://www.thedenverchannel.com/web/kmgh/news/local-news/4-boys-found-in-filthy-home-spoke-in-grunts-were-malnourished-and-not-toilet-trained-per-affidavit

[IdaBriggs]

1. I do not have the courage to become a foster parent.

I would probably end up in jail if these two came to "get their children back".

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Wow, I have no words.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. How do people live in a major city in conditions like that

with four kids and no one seems to know anything about it? I might be able to understand if they lived out in the wilds of Alaska, but this is just too much for me to get my head around. The neighbors bear some responsibility for this for not reporting it, unless it was reported and nothing was done.

[lapislzi]

7. There was an issue in 2009 and again in 2012

In cases like these, there is almost always a pattern of missed follow-up. Some call it "falling through the cracks," when it's really a case of no funding for social services, no personnel, overloaded case workers.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. There is a lack of funding for child services in a lot of places.

Who knows how much of an investigation was done before. Another thing I was thinking about was the landlord, or in this case, the slumlord. It's hard to imagine someone allowing tenants to live in conditions like that. It's one thing to allow things to fall into disrepair, but that place is a sewer.

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. "both parents had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor child abuse in June 2009."

But no follow up after that?

Child abuse is almost always a pattern, not a single event.
The court should have ordered followup.

[cordelia]

5. No it wasn't.

[lapislzi]

6. I hope these adults spend the rest of their lives in prison

Can't call them "parents" just because they used their genetic material to make children.

I hope the children are given the chance for a better life. (Hopefully, together, as they're all they've got).

Watch the woman turn on the man. I strongly suspect she may also be a victim of abuse.

[LuvNewcastle]

9. That usually does happen, but I don't really have a lot of sympathy for her

even if she was abused. Any woman who would allow her kids to live in conditions like that has no business being a mother. I don't think either of them should ever get out of prison.

[HappyMe]

10. That may or may not be the case.

I don't have any sympathy for her. It doesn't sound to me like she made any effort on behalf of her children.

Both 'parents' should be tossed into prison for a long, long time.

[kelliekat44]

11. I agree! nt

[lapislzi]

15. Not disagreeing, just making an observation.

She absolutely, totally, deserves to go to prison. I can at the same time feel compassion for any abuse she, too may have suffered (if this turns out to be the case).

[HappyMe]

18. That's fine.

I'm withholding any sympathy for her until there is actual evidence of abuse.

I can't imagine the hell those kids went through at the hands of their own parents. I don't even know if they will ever really recover.

[LeftinOH]

12. It's possible that mom is a bit...um, "low functioning";

meaning- her reproductive abilities may be working fine, but basic intellectual capacity may be diminished. Even 'bad' parents can keep cat shit from piling up on the floor. It happens.

[snooper2]

17. I don't see either of these two having a discussion on how a pulsar is formed anytime soon

[lapislzi]

21. Craster's daughter. eom.

[MindPilot]

14. If anybody should be facing charges, it should be those who failed to investigate this case.

The "parents" obviously have some serious mental health issues, putting them in prison helps no-one.

[lapislzi]

20. Sadly, there is nowhere else to put them.

And, it is likely that they have committed serious crimes, mental health issues or no.

The children will be helped and hopefully will go on to a better life.

I would also hope that in prison, the adults receive some sort of amelioration for whatever mental illnesses they suffer from. Doubtful, though.

Thank you, Reagan, for criminalizing mental illness. Thank you, GOP, for shredding the social safety net.

The case worker on this case...let me think. Probably a recent college grad, probably stacked with double (or more) the recommended case load for her territory, probably earns less than $25k a year. Not an excuse for negligence by any stretch, but certainly an aggravating factor.

[Arugula Latte]

16. I'm glad they got the poor boys out of there ... Hope they did the same for the poor cats.

[Orrex]

19. That's an odd May/December marriage

Can't help wondering about the backstory.