Photos show poor living conditions of children at a Jacksonville trailer, parents facing child neglect charges
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After seeing the poor conditions of a trailer that children were living in, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested a couple on felony child neglect charges. A JSO officer was called out to the residence of Stephen Rawlins, 38, and Annabelle Rawlins, 33, last Wednesday to help the Department of Children and Families with allegations of child neglect.
Action News Jax obtained photos of the trailer from someone close to the situation. According to an arrest report, the wooden steps of the trailer were rotting and could possibly give way under the officer’s weight. When the officer opened the front door, there was a foul-smelling odor.
Upon entering, the officer was met with an immense amount of clutter, debris, moldy clothes, and other decay/blight around the home, the JSO report stated.
There was rotting food covered with insects everywhere, a sink piled with moldy dishes, and the officer had to climb over trash and roaches to get to the refrigerator, where inside was rotting and old food, the report stated.
JSO said the officer had to remove fleas from their uniform despite being inside the trailer for only a few minutes. There was only power in the parent’s room and the fridge.
The bed where the children slept was covered in fleas, roaches and other insects, the officer said.
The water in the bathroom did not work and the tub appeared to not have been used in months.
According to the report, if the children had to use the bathroom, they had to go outside.
The children, who were there when during the officer’s visit, were dressed in dirty clothes but had no visible injuries.
The report states the children have lived in those conditions for years.
Another family member was cleared to take the children into her custody, JSO said. Action News Jax has requested the mugshots of the couple. We are waiting to hear back.