Stephanie Fletcher
An East Ridge woman was charged with child neglect after one of her children was found naked inside of a house nine homes down from her own house that was found to be nasty and “uninhabitable.”
Police responded to a Wednesday call of a found child report at 1525 Springvale Road. The complainant said he witnessed a child younger than 10 years old naked in his living room. He said he believed the front door was left unlocked by his wife earlier that morning, and that the child had left the residence.
The residents from down the road said they believed the child lived at 1529 Springvale Road. After knocking on the door for several minutes, Stephanie Fletcher, 27, responded and said she had two young boys. According to the police report, Ms. Fletcher was unaware of where her children were.
After searching the residence police determined a young, autistic boy was missing from the residence. After several police units began to search for the boy, they found him naked at 1520 Springvale Road.
Police said at the Fletcher residence there was trash, dirty clothes, dirty diapers, and “junk” littered about the house, and they “could not see the floor” in some parts of the house. The walls of the children’s room was smeared with human feces and the bathroom toilet was nonfunctional and full of urine and feces.
Police said the smell inside the residence was so horrid that it was “almost unbearable” to the first responders who arrived on scene. The refrigerator did not work and contained spoiled items. Police spoke to Ian Kittle, who lived in the attic. Police could not walk in his room because it was littered with beer bottles and bottles full of urine.
Police said they located several items used to smoke methamphetamine, and Codes Enforcement responded to the scene and said the residence was “unfit for human habitation.” The owner of the residence was notified and told to begin the process of cleaning up the residence immediately.
Child Protective Services determined the children needed to live with their grandmother.
Ms. Fletcher was charged with two counts of child neglect.