The scary thing amazingly isn't the headline, which is awful enough, but that the fine people in Child Protective Services had taken the kids once already, only to give them back.
And to the proud couple who apparently lacked the common sense that is required to dispatch of soiled diapers and dead babies, but still found it within their ability to produce 6 kids, I can only say "It's a vagina, not a clown car!"
Fetus found in Lubbock home; 7 kids removed
Associated Press
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LUBBOCK, TEXAS — A judge today ordered seven children removed from their rat-infested home strewn with dirty diapers after the mother's miscarriage led to the discovery of the dead fetus in a baby wipe box in the refrigerator.
Gloria Ramirez, 26, was four months pregnant when she delivered the stillborn baby in her bathtub with the help of her oldest child, a 9-year-old daughter, according to court documents. Authorities came to the home after she called a funeral home to ask about a casket for the fetus, a spokesman for Child Protective Services said.
Anthony Moya, the 40-year-old father of the six younger children, has been charged with seven counts of child endangerment, and the same charges were expected to be filed against Ramirez next week, Lubbock police Sgt. Scott Farmer said.
When authorities arrived at the dilapidated house July 7, they found stacks of dirty diapers — nearly four feet high in closets — throughout the house, along with rat, roach and lice infestations, according to documents.
There was little food, and some of the children told CPS investigators they ate only a hot dog out of the freezer for breakfast that morning, having been prohibited from opening the refrigerator, documents show.
"The lack of sanitation was just amazing," Farmer said. "Trash is one thing but what they were storing up was ... my goodness."
Decaying food lay around the home, trash bins overflowed, and mattresses had no sheets and were dirty, CPS spokesman Greg Cunningham said. Agency investigators suspected the children were malnourished, he said.
The oldest child often was left to care for the other six when Moya and Ramirez went out, court records state. The children range in age from 11 months to 9 years.
The two youngest children were taken to the hospital for suspected dehydration, and all seven had to be treated for head lice, documents show.
The funeral home contacted a Lubbock hospital after Ramirez called. An ambulance and police went to the house, Cunningham said.
Ramirez also was taken to the hospital because of the miscarriage, documents show.
After the children were removed, a city code enforcement inspector cited the home for 37 violations, including unsafe wiring, no working hot water heater, holes in exterior walls and no proper connection to public sewer and water systems, according to the report.
The attorney appointed to represent Ramirez in the child custody case, Lisa Ratzke, declined to comment today.
It was unclear whether Moya, who was released on $17,500 bail Saturday, had retained an attorney in his criminal case. He received paperwork today to have an attorney appointed in the custody matter.
Today's ruling wasn't the first time Ramirez and Moya have temporarily lost custody of their children. In May 1999, CPS removed the oldest daughter and a son Ramirez had with Moya for physical neglect, Cunningham said. Case workers verified the allegations, and the parents completed a program required by the agency, he said.
The two children were returned to the parents in October 2000, Cunningham said.
Jeremy Acosta, the father of the oldest child, said after the hearing that he knew about the first removal.
"Is this the only time she's going to get her stuff together when she gets her kids taken away?" he asked of CPS workers in the hallway outside the courtroom today.
Judge Blair Cherry told Ramirez and Moya that the agency's goal was to reunite the family.
"We want everything to work out the way you want it to work out," he said. "We want to make sure they get into a safe environment."
Later, Acosta said he was angry when he learned about the conditions in the home.
"That's my little girl, my daughter," Acosta said. "I trusted (Ramirez) with the life of my daughter."
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