Children still living in what police call 'uninhabitable' conditions, after girl found wandering

LORAIN, Ohio - Five children are living in what Lorain police call uninhabitable conditions.

The discovery was made on East 31st Street in Lorain early Wednesday morning, just after midnight.

A man called police, saying a 3-year-old girl showed up at his front door crying and looking for her mother.

When officers showed up, the man told them that the girl’s parents lived two houses down. Officers went to that house, where they found two baby sitters, a man and a woman -- each 26 years old.

The baby sitters told police that they were watching five children, who were between 2 and 10 years old. The baby sitters said they believed all the children were upstairs sleeping, and were unaware the little girl unlocked a door and walked out of the house.

The baby sitters also told police that the parents were at work.

It was at this time that officers discovered the male babysitter had an outstanding warrant.

Before escorting him to the patrol car, he asked to use the bathroom upstairs. Officers searched him, consented, and followed him. At that point, officers noticed the children were living in uninhabitable conditions.

The police report reads that one child was sleeping on a bare mattress, and three others were sleeping on the floor. The report also cites that there were piles of feces and trash on the floor.

Officers also spotted a marijuana pipe near the children's homework.

As to who the pipe belonged to, NewsChannel5 called the residence. The children’s father said it must have belonged to one of his baby sitters, saying, “I don’t know if it was his or hers, I don’t know where it came from.”

The police report suggested officers were looking into an endangering children offense, but no charges were filed.

Police forwarded their report to children’s services. A spokesperson with children's services said they are working with police in this case.

The father confirmed all children were still at home on Thursday morning.