Baby with 50 rat bites found in ‘deplorable’ home, IN officials say. Mom pleads guilty
The mother of a baby found covered in rat bites in 2023 has pleaded guilty to her role in creating the home’s “deplorable living conditions,” Indiana officials said.
McClatchy News is not naming the woman to protect the identities of her three children.
The Evansville woman pleaded guilty Oct. 24 to one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury and to two counts of neglect of a dependent, according to a news release from the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office.
She was sentenced to a total of four years with credit for 399 days already served in custody, officials said. “The balance of her time is suspended to probation,” the prosecutor’s office said.
“Today (the mother) took responsibility for her role in a home which was found to be a disgusting and dangerous environment for her three children to reside,” prosecutor Diana Moers said in the release.
“Although she was not in the home during the rat-bite incident, it is important to note she is being prosecuted for not providing an adequate living arrangement for her children and has lost custody of them,” Moers said.
2023 rat bite incident
On Sept. 13, 2023, authorities responding to a 911 call found the woman’s 6-month-old son, who was in the care of his father at the time, in a pool of blood with over 50 rat bites on his body, prosecutors said.
The mother had left Sept. 1, 2023 and had not returned to the home, however, authorities said she was responsible for its “deplorable conditions,” according to officials.
The prosecutor’s office said the mother was “offered multiple services to assist with clean-up of the home and did not cooperate or remove the children.”
Despite help from the Department of Child Services and other providers, progress on getting the house clean and safe “was fleeting,” officials said.
Father’s sentencing
The father was sentenced Oct. 2 to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of three felony neglect and child endangerment charges, McClatchy News previously reported.
“It is important to note that the father in this case was the only one residing in the home during the rat-bite incident,” prosecutors said. “His case is wholly different than the facts which we can hold the mother accountable for.”
