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Mar 6, 2007 10:10 pm US/Eastern
'House Of Squalor' Mom Charged With Neglect
Family Court Judge To Hear Case, Kids In Foster Care
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBS/AP) ―
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The house of filth is now at the center of a bitter custody battle.
CBS
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Hundreds of bottles and cups filled with urine were found scattered among the incredibly filthy house that Raymond Young's three daughters lived in.
CBS
A woman accused of living with her children in a house where police found stomach-churning squalor was charged with neglect as part of a Family Court proceeding on Tuesday.
Neither Deborah Young nor her attorney, Maureen Glass, would comment on the allegation, which was filed as part of an ongoing investigation into claims made by Young's estranged husband that the couple's three daughters were being subjected to dangerous living conditions in their Lindenhurst home.
Police who were called to the home last month encountered dozens of urine-filled bottles strewn amid animal carcasses and feces, soiled toilet paper and trash piled several feet high. The discovery at the white, two-story Cape Cod-style house was made after authorities were summoned by the children's father, who has been banned by a court order from seeing his daughters since 2004 amid allegations of sexual abuse in a bitter divorce with their mother.
Following the explosive allegations, state Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen ordered both parents and their children to undergo psychological evaluations. He also placed the children -- ages 10, 12 and 14 -- in the custody of foster care pending the outcome of an investigation by Suffolk County Social Services officials.
An attorney for Ray Young said the couple's divorce proceedings began in 2003. Since then, Ray Young has lost visitation rights, and has had to refute accusations that he sexually abused the children.
Unlike an accusation of criminal wrongdoing, the neglect charge will be adjudicated by a Family Court judge as part of an overall deliberation of the marital dispute, officials said. Deborah Young was due back in court to answer the allegation on March 20.
Social services spokesman Dennis Nowak declined to comment specifically on the Youngs' case, citing confidentiality requirements. He said about 40 to 45 children a month are removed from Suffolk County homes and placed in foster care when it is determined they could be in danger.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
