Vernon Mom Charged After Kids Found Alone With No Provisions: Police

VERNON, CT — A Vernon mother has been arrested on accusations that she left four children at an apartment with no adequate provisions, police said.

She has been charged with four counts of risk of injury to a child and currently sits in jail on a high bond.

Police said that, on Nov. 8, they performed a welfare check on a Terrace Drive apartment. Officers located four children — all younger than 11 — who had been left alone, according to an incident report.

After a joint investigation with the Department of Children and Families, it was determined that the children's mother, 40-year-old Lindsey Powell, of Vernon, had left them unattended without supervision, food or adequate clothing, according to an incident report.

Officers were able to prepare an arrest warrant for Powell, and she was eventually located in Poughkeepsie, NY, according to an incident report.

Powell was arrested by New York authorities in Putnam County and extradited back to Vernon on Monday, police said. Powell was then arraigned in Rockville Superior Court Monday on the four risk charges and held on a $250,000 surety bond. She is scheduled for her second court appearance on Dec. 17, according to judicial system records.

Care has been arranged for the children, authorities said.

After issuing an incident report, police released the arrest warrant for Powell.

According to the warrant, when the oldest child answered the door, investigators were met with a stench of urine and feces that made it difficult to stand there, let alone enter the dwelling. The oldest was wearing a sweatshirt and pants, but was barefoot, and the younger children were naked, according to the warrant. Police had received previous references to the younger children being autistic, according to the warrant.

The children had dirty feet, according to the warrant.

Trash, human and cat feces, old food, old clothes and a guinea pig in a cage were all located in the house, which was barely navigable because of stuff piled up, according to a warrant. Flies were swarming in one room, and urine was on the floor in several spots, according to the warrant.

The apartment's smoke detector had been removed, according to the warrant.

Police called the living conditions "deplorable," according to the warrant. The oldest had no shoes because Powell had apparently taken them to prevent the child from attending school and tend to the siblings, even though a principal gave the child several shoes from a local school, according to the warrant.

When police made phone contact with Powell, she said her "13-year-old" was watching the children, when, in fact, the child is 11, the warrant states.

Powell left with references to being "depressed and overwhelmed," according to testimony outlined in the warrant. Police were given video footage from neighbors showing Powell leaving the apartment on Nov. 8.