Monday, June 27, 2011
Couple Hospitalized, Granddaughter Jailed For Elder Neglect/Abuse
A Lawrenceburg couple was hospitalized, their granddaughter jailed, after authorities discovered last week that they were residing in deplorable conditions that posed a hazard to their health.
According to reports filed through the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, a deputy had gone to the 2297 Grandview Drive home on June 17 for a welfare check after having received a complaint.
The complainant reported the couple’s granddaughter was having underage parties and causing the living conditions to be unsanitary.
The deputy issued a warning to the granddaughter, advising her that the home would be checked in 5-6 days and that the living conditions needed to be vastly improved.
When a deputy returned to the home around 8:00 p.m. Thursday, he reports conditions remained atrocious. Immediately upon entering the residence reports show he summoned additional officers to the home and made a referral to Adult Protective Services.
Reports show that used condoms were found lying about and that the home was strewn with piles of dog feces. One dead bird was also found amongst the litter.
Although immediately inside the front door there hung a sign warning “No smoking, oxygen in use,” officers found cigarette butts throughout the home along with empty alcohol bottles.
Dirty dishes and food were found piled up in the kitchen and bugs were said to be “crawling everywhere.”
Officers report there were five bags of garbage piled in the kitchen floor that were leaking food and trash.
They also note that a pile of trash was found in the kitchen that was approximately “four feet tall and fifteen feet around.”
Dirty clothes, reports say, were piled up in the utility room floor to the bottom of the dryer door, as well as in floors of some bedrooms.
Although the couple’s bedroom was said to be fairly clean, deputies note that a garbage bag of used adult diapers was sitting in the shower inside their bathroom.
Inside the granddaughter’s bedroom deputies report finding dog feces “rubbed into the carpet.” Dirty clothing, dishes and food were piled inside the room and deputies found a marijuana bong amongst the litter. When questioned, they report the granddaughter admitted using the drug.
Because of the level of contamination, the couple was transported to Crockett Hospital for medical examination. The husband was subsequently admitted after it was determined he had cellulitis in both legs.
The granddaughter, Taylor Marie Velten, 18, told deputies that she had “tried to clean up a little bit.”
She was arrested on two counts of willful abuse, neglect or exploitation of an adult and was issued a citation for one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
She was booked through the Lawrence County Detention Center where she was held without bond.
Around 3:30 Friday morning deputies were dispatched to the home a second time after a relative reported someone was inside the home. She told deputies she had called the female victim’s cell phone and that a male answered, identifying himself as “James.”
The victim told deputies she had left the phone inside her van and that she did not know who had answered it.
When they checked inside, deputies report finding carrots and dip along with a freshly poured drink in front of the computer.
Deputies were summoned to the same residence at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when the female victim returned to find the home had been burglarized. She told deputies she had closed the windows and locked the doors the previous night before leaving.
She returned to find the rear door was unlocked and the bathroom window open. She told deputies it did not appear that anything was missing.
