Middletown Boy, 7, Found Living in ‘Horrible’ Conditions, Parents Arrested: Report

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Middletown couple was arrested after a school truancy officer found a 7-year-old boy living in “horrible” conditions, according to multiple reports.

The officer conducted a welfare check on the student because he hadn’t been showing up for school, according to FOX 61.

The Middletown Press reports Arlene and Richard Poole, both 41, were arrested Friday after police found that the boy was “rail thin” and was wearing only a full diaper and also had a bandage on his head and dark circles under his eyes.

When officers entered the home, they found 10 to 15 empty and half-empty alcohol bottles littering the floor, along with soiled diapers, trash and spoiled food, according to FOX 61. Arlene Poole, the boy’s mother, had sluggish speech and couldn't properly communicate with officers, according to FOX 61.

Richard Poole emerged from an upstairs bedroom with the boy and told police that the child is autistic and wouldn’t want to speak with them, according to the Middletown Press. Richard Poole also wouldn’t say why the boy was only wearing the diaper.

The boy and Arlene Poole were taken to the hospital for evaluation and the Department of Children and Families was also notified, according to FOX 61.

Read more at FOX 61 here and the Middletown Press here.

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