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First Posted: 4/14/2014
KINGSTON — A married couple and a woman were arraigned Monday in separate cases of child endangerment after police said their residences were found to be filled with feces and rotting food.
One residence had a dog that had been deceased for several days, according to the criminal complaint.
Timothy Kennedy, 58, and Carol Lou Kennedy, 49, last known address as Jackson Street, Edwardsville, were charged by Edwardsville police with endangering the welfare of children.
Wendy Cheetham, 47, of Schuyler Avenue, Kingston, was charged by Kingston police with four counts each of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.
They were arraigned by District Judge Paul Roberts and all released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
County child case workers on March 7 removed six children from the Kennedy’s residence and four from Cheetham’s.
According to the separate criminal complaints:
• Edwardsville police investigated a complaint about a dead dog inside a Jackson Street residence with children.
Tim Kennedy told an officer the dog died and he planned on burying the animal in the backyard. The officer entered the residence that he said wreaked of feces and urine that intensified once the basement door was opened with a screwdriver.
One child constantly scratched his head indicating he was infested with lice, the complaints say.
Edwardsville Code Enforcement Officer David Saraka condemned the residence as unfit for habitation. Saraka determined the dog had been dead for three to four days, according to the complaints.
• Kingston police said a child caseworker investigated suspected abuse at Cheetham’s residence and found three boys and a girl living in a home filled with rotting food, garbage, dirty clothing and cigarette butts. Dirty dishes with mold were found in kitchen cabinets. Empty cans of beer were found in the girl’s bedroom, and rotten food and dead bugs were found in the refrigerator, the complaint says.
Cheetham wept as she spoke to the caseworker and said that she “Just gave up,” according to the complaint.
Preliminary hearings on the separate cases are scheduled on April 30.