Danbury Police Charge Woman with 'Cruelty to Person'

DANBURY, CT — A New Milford woman, wanted on a cruelty to person charge after police say she left her disabled mother sitting on the floor in her own excrement three years ago, turned herself in to Danbury police on Thursday.

Pamela Rittenhouse, 69, of Butterbrook Hill, was arraigned on Friday in Danbury Superior Court.

In 2016, Authorities were tipped off that something might be amiss by a neighbor, Louise Pinard, who told police that she had not seen the victim in about a year and "was worried about her." She said she had tried to check on her neighbor several times in the past, but was barred from entering the house by the victim's daughter, Rittenhouse, and granddaughter, Jessica Parrott, 32, who Dinard says were "extemely rude/aggressive" to her, according to the affidavit.

Police made a well-being check on May 26, 2016, and found a cat, a barking dog, and the victim, Rittenhouse's 88-year-old mother, sitting on the floor "yelling" and "asking for help repeatedly." The odor of urine and feces inside the home was so strong "that it was difficult to breath in the home," according to the affidavit.

"The living room was extremely filthy with spiderwebs all over the ceilings and walls of the residence," police reported, noting they could see "multiple bags of garbage which were filled to the top in the kitchen, as well as a sink filled with dirty dishes that had overflowed onto the counter. The floor in the living room was caked with urine and feces. The sub floor around the floor vent was almost completely rotted out, most likely from the animals urinating in the house."

Police discovered that the victim could not hear, but could read lips, and learned that she had fallen and could not get up. She did not know how long she had been on the floor, but said she was hungry and thirsty.

After being in the home for 15 minutes, police learned from the victim that her daughter, Pamela Rittenhouse, was asleep in the bedroom, which also smelled strongly of urine and feces, according to the affidavit. Police woke Rittenhouse, who told them that her mother, whom she described as a "drama queen" who was "always doing this type of thing" and "just likes attention" had been asleep for "maybe a couple hours."

The police called for an ambulance, and the victim was transported to Danbury Hospital. EMS techs estimated that the victim had been sitting on the floor much longer than a couple of hours. An emergency room nurse confirmed that the victim had "pressure sores on her tailbone from sitting so long on the floor in wet conditions," according to police.

Another neighbor told police that Rittenhouse and Parrott had been living with the victim for about ten years after being evicted from a house in Newtown, and that the victim told her they "pushed her" in attempts to "try to stop her from leaving the house to attend church," according to the affidavit.

The victim's son, Bill Rittenhouse, a Manhattan teacher, had not seen his mother in about two months, and told police that his mother had a history of mental illness, according to police. Bill Rittenhouse told police his mother was living in a "home" but that her insurance had run out and she had to move in with her daughter.

Pamela Rittenhouse was arraigned Friday at state Superior Court in Danbury and released on a promise to appear back in court date on Oct. 3.