Two Marietta parents are facing 10 counts of cruelty to children charges because police said they found their children living in deplorable conditions.
Neighbors told WSB-TV that they’ve had their suspicions about the parents for over a year.
A 911 call is what police say led them to the Marietta home Tuesday night.
Police said they rescued five children, as old as 12 and as young as 1, living in feces and urine.
Police say a few of them had unexplained bruises.
“I had a conservation with a family member that said the house needed to be cleaned up inside,” a neighbor said, asking not to be identified.
The neighbor said there were concerns about the children before, but no one knew how bad the conditions were.
Richard Coolidge, 34, and his girlfriend Amanda Lufkins, 34, face 10 child cruelty charges.
“They stayed to themselves, they didn't see them much in the neighborhood,” the neighbor said.
Police came to the house on Chapelle Court at around 11;30 p.m. Tuesday after the father called 911.
“My girlfriend is here and she's trying to attack us,” Coolidge said on a the call.
Investigators said the mother and father had injuries from a fight in front of the children.
Once inside, police noticed there was no air conditioning and no hot water in the house, and that several children were sleeping in a single bed.
Neighbors said that police had been to the house before for other domestic disputes, but this was the first time anyone left in handcuffs.
“I’m just sorry about what happened, and it resolves in some positive way,” the neighbor said.
The children were taken in protective custody after police removed them from the home.
The parents remain in the Cobb County Jail, where at last check, they had not posted bond.
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