Earlier this month, an Oklahoma couple was taken into custody after their two young sons were found living in deplorable conditions, as reported by local authorities. The two boys, both under the age of five, were rescued from the unsanitary home on September 12. Dakota Dodd, 24, and Aubrianna Freeman, 22, were subsequently taken into custody on allegations of child neglect.
The police were tipped off about the situation by a worried neighbor. Upon their arrival, Dodd led the officers to a bedroom where the two boys, aged 3 and 4, were discovered covered in dried feces. Freeman, the mother of the children, is also facing charges of child neglect.
Oklahoma City police Master Sgt. Gary Knight described the scene as utterly revolting, with the walls and children smeared with feces. He added that the officers were nearly overwhelmed by the stench of feces and urine that filled the residence.
According to a police report obtained by Law and Crime, the children were found with feces embedded in their fingernails, palms, feet, legs, and faces. The report further detailed the horrifying conditions of the home, including piles of what appeared to be human feces on the second floor and a bedroom floor covered in multiple piles of smeared and flattened human feces.
Due to the horrific conditions, investigators had to wear hazmat suits when examining the crime scene. Dodd, the boys’ stepfather, reportedly admitted to police that he locked the children in the filthy room for over 12 hours daily so Freeman, their mother, could sleep and to “keep the kids safe due to the neighborhood,” according to a police report cited by News 9.
An 11-month-old baby girl, Dodd’s biological daughter, was also removed from the home. The neighbor who reported the alleged neglect told News 9 she saw the boys naked in the window. “They looked at me as if to say help me,” Barbara North said. Dodd and Freeman have been charged with five counts of child neglect.