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A Florida mother and her spouse have been arrested and charged with child neglect. According to WKMG, the couple was taken into custody after the mother’s 15-year-old daughter arrived at school with cockroaches in her book bag.
Additionally, the teenager was allegedly wearing dirty clothes.
According to the outlet, 37-year-old Samantha Acker and 36-year-old Christopher Rounds were arrested on Tuesday. They each have since been charged with four counts of child neglect.
Additionally, the outlet reports that Rounds has also been charged with “resisting an officer without violence.”
On Thursday, WESH reported that Acker has bonded out of Volusia County Jail.
According to WESH, the couple is engaged to be married and reside with four children aged 8, 10, 15, and 16. The outlet adds that Acker is the mother of all the children. However, Rounds is the father of only two.
WKMG reports that police received a report from an abuse hotline that one of the children was pushed while on a video call in the home. Additionally, a Volusia County high school staff member informed authorities that the 15-year-old child came to school wearing dirty clothing and cockroaches in her book bag.
WESH reports that the 15-year-old is “deaf and mute.”
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office then arrived at the couple’s Deltona home on Tuesday. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by WKMG, authorities found the house “completely infested” with cockroaches and other insects. WESH adds that “mold, trash, old food,” and “dirty clothes” were all over the residence.
According to WKMG, deputies observed that the area outside the house was covered with over 200 cigarette butts. Additionally, the home’s lack of a functioning air conditioner left the temperature at 85 degrees, per WESH.
The outlet adds that “multiple animals” were also inside the residence, and the children’s bed sheets were infested with cockroaches and insects.
According to the affidavit, Rounds informed officers that the home was in disarray due to “financial issues.” Meanwhile, Acker reportedly explained that the house was “a mess” because “the kids did not help her clean.”
However, Acker also reportedly told authorities that the home was “not that bad.”
According to WESH, the affidavit also cites that the 15-year-old “is profoundly deaf and uses only sign language to communicate.” However, “no one in the house knows sign language to communicate with her.”
According to the outlet, the children have been “temporarily relocated.”
