Parents Arrested After 5-Year-Old Found In Maggots, Feces Filled Bronx Home

The parents of a five-year-old boy have been arraigned on child endangerment charges after police found their son alone in a rat-infested and feces-covered apartment in the Bronx, New York City, reports said Sunday.

Charlotte Lewis, 48, a nurse at Montefiore Hospital was charged with four counts of failure to exercise control of a minor. She was arrested by the authorities at the hospital.

Her husband, Wilfred Lewis, 59, an MTA employee, was charged with child endangerment along with four counts of failure to exercise control of a minor.

Prosecutors claimed that the couple were not living in poverty but had been raising their child in an abject squalor. The prosecutor further added that it was a case of wanton abuse and neglect.

A FedEx worker, who was scheduled to deliver a parcel to the apartment in the Kingsbridge section in the Bronx Friday last week, noticed that the child was left alone at home.

The deliveryman needed a signature on a package and therefore knocked on the family’s door, which was answered by the five-year-old, neighbors said.

"FedEx came and dropped off a package and the kid opened the door," neighbor William Villafane said. "When they asked for the parents, he answered that there was nobody."

"I saw the little boy outside in the hallway with the super and the cops were here, and I quickly heard the conversation about, ‘Oh, when was the last time you saw your parents?’ and he said, Thursday night, I believe," another neighbor Deanna Strom said.

The deliveryman then reportedly went out and looked for a police officer in order to report the incident. After an investigation, the child told the police that his parents had not been home since Thursday night.

The boy’s siblings — two girls, 12 and 13, and a 15-year-old deaf boy — were in school at the time and the mother told the authorities that the five-year-old stayed home as he was ill. She reportedly told the police that she believed he was old enough to care for himself.

Investigators said that the apartment was full of human feces on the wall and was infested with rats and roaches. They also said they discovered maggots and dead as well as rodents in the house.

One of the boy’s siblings was taken to the hospital with insects crawling on his body. A doctor also indicated that one of the children had developed scabies from lice crawling under the skin.

Significant blood smears were also found in the apartment, prosecutors said. A large quantity of the smears was reportedly in the bathroom, on the floor, and toilet. It was however unclear where the blood came from.

Neighbors said they were shocked after being aware of the conditions inside the apartment. "It's unbelievable knowing you're in a building that they got an apartment in those conditions," Villafane said. "I live on the third floor, we pass by it and we never knew that it was like that. I got a child, he's a year, and I try to keep things as clean as possible for him."

All the children were taken into custody by the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) after their parents were charged.

In a statement to ABC7, ACS' Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs Eric Ferrero said: "Our top priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all children in New York City."

"We are working with the NYPD to investigate this incident, and the safety of all of the other children who were in this home has been secured," it said.

The couple was being held on $15,000 bail late Sunday and are due back in court in February, according to ABC7 News.