Austin parents charged with neglect after police say 2-year-old found wandering state highway

BOTH ARE FACING NEGLECT CHARGES

Two southern Indiana parents were arrested last week after police say their 2-year-old son was found wandering alone, half naked on a state highway.

According to court documents, 28-year-old Deone Oliver and 22-year-old Alexandrea Church were arrested on Friday, April 15 by officers with the Austin Police Department.

Police say shortly after 3 p.m., they were called to the intersection of West Main Street and South 6th Street in Austin, after someone reported seeing a 2-year-old running across State Road 256.

Police say they found the child in the hands of a bystander, wearing only a diaper and socks. According to court documents, the boy had "a small cut on the bottom of his chin which appeared to have been glued shut" and food tangled in his hair.

The Department of Child Services was contacted and police began knocking on doors to nearby homes in an effort to find the boy's parents.

Police say at about 4 p.m., Oliver, the boy's father, approached them and led officers to their home nearby, where they also met with the boy's mother, Church.

According to court documents, investigators encountered deplorable conditions inside the home, where a 1-year-old lives as well.

"As I walked into the residence, I observed the odor of feces, trash and old food piled on the counter tops, stove, kitchen sink, and the floor all throughout the residence," an officer wrote in the probable cause affidavit.

Police say they found a crib with a mixture of old food and feces on the mattress.

Inside the 2-year-old's bedroom, police say they were met with another disturbing sight.

"I observed nothing inside the bedroom except for a bed," the officer wrote. "I observed the bed had a plastic covering over the mattress and was covered in what appeared to be spaghetti. I also observed what appeared to be feces spread onto the walls of the room, with hand prints in them" that matched the size of the prints of the 2-year-old."

When confronted, Church allegedly told officers she thought the feces had been there for a week. Oliver said he thought it had been a couple of days.

Both were arrested and charged with child neglect. They are currently being held in the Scott County Detention Center.