19 children allegedly left alone in hot Ky. home for a week, mom arrested

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

The home in Bowling Green, Ky. where 19 children without adult supervision were allegedly found on Monday, July 2, 2012.

/ CBS/WKYT

(CBS/AP) BOWLING GREEN, KY - Police found 19 kids and 10 pets in a hot, filthy home Monday night, after they'd been left home for a week, CBS affiliate WKYT reported.

The mother of some of the children was arrested.

A neighbor, Annie Adams, heard cries from the house. Knowing more than a dozen children were living there, and that the couple, Irving Smith and Jackie Farah, had left the children alone in the past, she called the police, according to WKYT.

"I did hear babies crying and I knew there were no adults. And myself and my husband, we have four boys. And all I could think about was my four boys," Adams told WKYT.

When police arrived, they told WKYT that it was 90 degrees inside, and the children had been living on top of carpets covered in dog feces.

Detective Tim Robinson, of the Warren County's Sherriff's Department, told WKYT that there had been a family emergency. There had been a caretaker, but the couple led her "to believe that just a couple of kids were there, some older teens that could watch the younger children would be there."

The children were treated at a hospital and placed in state custody.

Farah returned from Chicago on Tuesday and was arrested and charged with 14 counts of criminal abuse and five counts of wanton endangerment for allegedly leaving the children home alone, reported the Bowling Green Daily News. She is currently being held without bond.

Police say that they're looking for others to be brought in for questioning.

4 Comments +

Add a Comment


by carolo43 July 6, 2012 3:53 PM EDT: Must be a good Catholic family to continue to pop out kids you can not afford to have nor want to have. But gee.....birth control is such a terrible thing! ppptttfffffff!; Reply to this comment


by quinsmith July 5, 2012 6:02 PM EDT: One of the challenges of being a parent is arming your kids with the skills to handle the obstacles life presents. And leaving them home alone might be the scariest thing we could ever imagine. And so teaching them how to use 911 in an emergency could be one of the simplest — and most important — lessons you'll ever share. However, pressing 911 alone for me is still not enough to assure my heart about the security of my child whenever I'm away. Therefore, I've searched security devices that will notify me whenever emergency arises and can quickly reached 911 with all the information needed. And then I found this link from a blog I am reading http://www.tsue-thatswhatshesaid.com/2011/08/your-childs-safety-your-piece-of-mind.html; Reply to this comment


by ThrMeldrich July 5, 2012 1:19 PM EDT: Slap on the wrist and they will do it again! They left helpless children and animals to tend to a family emergency. Real winners there!!!; Reply to this comment


by mri2012 July 5, 2012 1:12 PM EDT: This is SO wrong in so many ways! Sad that the children are going to suffer the consequences of her actions! I'm sure that all 19 of these children are much better off, since she thinks it's ok to leave them home alone with 10 pets to leave feces all over the floor that they are walking/ playing on as well as leaving them in such a hot house with 90 degree temp. Horrible!!!! Poor kids!; Reply to this comment