PLYMOUTH, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Two Luzerne County parents were locked up on Tuesday, accused of allowing their young children to live in deplorable conditions, and police say they discovered those conditions after responding to a report of a naked five-year-old boy covered in human feces alone in a park.
Investigators tell 28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick the Plymouth home, in their words, is a "pig pen." In fact, it was condemned, but it was home to a five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl.
A video was recorded by a neighbor's security camera as Plymouth Police were at the Orchard Street home of Ryan and Isabel Vincent Sunday afternoon.
At one point, a police officer could be seen leaving the home, crossing the street.
28/22 News was told he was sickened by what he saw and smelled inside the home.
It all began when 911 received a call about a naked, feces-covered boy alone at the nearby Barnes Street Park.
"I mean it's alarming to have a small child, five-year-old, walking in public by themselves, but this became more concerning when they saw his condition and the conditions they were living in, and that because primary. That became most important. So they called, they took them into protective custody. There was a child in the house, and they notified, children and youth," Plymouth Police Department Chief Anthony Gorey told 28/22 News.
Police say the home was filled with human feces, rotting garbage, debris, clutter, dirty clothing, and swarms of flies, and there was a naked three-year-old girl who was also covered with human feces inside the house.
Melissa Federici lives next door. It was her cameras that captured police on the scene.
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"We've had a lot of issues with them not mowing their grass, dirty diapers lying over there. That's why we put the fence up over there, and truthfully, we never even knew they had any kids. We've never seen them outside," Federici explained.
"This the first time you heard they had children?" Mehalshick asked.
"Yes, we didn't even know they had children," Federici replied.
Another neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told 28/22 News the following.
"I can see right down into that house, it is horrible. The conditions are horrible. I knew it was bad, but I never thought it was that bad," a neighbor stated.
Plymouth Borough condemned the house.
26-year-old Ryan Vincent and 29-year-old Isabel Vincent face child endangerment charges. They will have a hearing in several weeks.
