9/14/2021- 4:22 p.m.
New Hampshire – Five young children were found living in a home riddled with bugs, garbage, and feces last week in Manchester, New Hampshire. The property manager said he had tried to fix a leak coming from the second floor, but that the tenant wouldn’t let him in. He also said he could hear children inside, and there were cockroaches inside and outside of the unit.
On Friday, Manchester police went to a Spruce Street apartment to check on the condition of children there.
Alicia Washok, 37, opened the door but would not let officers in the apartment or cooperate with them, according to police.
“While officers stood at the door a young child came out,” police said. “The child was covered in filth and had a bad odor.”
When they were let inside, officers allegedly found trash all over the floor and flies and bugs on the ceilings and walls. There were also feces near a crib, according to police, and moldy food near where children slept. The children found inside the home were between ages 2 and 6.
As a result, Washok, her husband, Eddie King, 44, and her 62-year-old mother, Lori Harmon, were arrested, and each was charged with reckless conduct and endangering the welfare of a child. The two women were also charged with resisting arrest.
“From the outside, officers could see a swarm of bugs and flies hovering around the exterior second floor apartment windows and when they went up to the door they smelled a distinct stench coming from the unit,” police said in a Facebook post.
In a separate incident in the city, Michael Higgins, 34, was charged with reckless conduct, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal threatening after he allegedly placed his baby daughter in a clothes dryer and turned it on. The baby was removed from the machine and was not injured, police said.
