Mom accused of keeping kids in makeshift cages charged with child abuse, neglect
MEARS, Va. - A woman who allegedly kept two of her five children in makeshift cages and allowed all of her kids to live in filthy conditions was indicted on child abuse and neglect charges.
CBS affiliate WBOC reports that authorities say Malista Ness-Hopkins and her children lived in a home full of trash, rotting food and fleas.
Accomack County Social Services worker Kate Bonniwell testified in September that she visited the home after her agency received a complaint in late July. She said two of the woman's children were caged inside cribs. Rails taken from other cribs were allegedly screwed on top, confining them inside.
The station reports that Ness-Hopkins' children range in age from 1 to 6 years old. In September, Ness-Hopkins' attorney told a judge she was "overwhelmed."
Bonniwell told the court it took her more than 20 minutes to unscrew one of the crib tops with an electric screwdriver. She said the 2-year-old inside hissed at her and made noises she described as "animal sounds." Once the top was removed, the child did not attempt to get out, Bonniwell said.
"The children didn't act like normal children," Bonniwell testified.
A 3-year-old was confined in another crib in the room, where a 1-year-old child was also found.
Bonniwell said the children were filthy and suffering from multiple bug bites. In another bedroom, two children ages 5 and 6, slept on bare mattresses, she said. Bonniwell said the toilet in the home's only bathroom was filled with black water. The sink and the bathtub were filled with trash, including plates of rotting food.
The children were reportedly removed from the home on July 28, the day social workers visited.
Bonniwell said Ness-Hopkins told her she was having a hard time and that she confined the children because she could not watch them. The mother said they had gotten out once and were playing with a can of Drano, Bonniwell testified.
Defense attorney Tucker Watson told the judge there was no evidence that the conditions in the home "were directly harmful to the children."
The judge disagreed and sent the charges to a grand jury.
"This did not happen overnight," Judge Croxton Gordon said. "She said she only screwed them in when she couldn't mind them. But she was there."
On Monday, the grand jury returned a five count indictment. A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Attorney's Office told CBS News' Crimesider that Ness-Hopkins is still out on bond and her court date would be set within the next two months. She did not know whether the children were back living with Ness-Hopkins or not.
According to Delmarva Now, Ness-Hopkins told investigators at the time of her arrest that she had been a stay-at-home mom for 17 years and that her boyfriend, the father of some of her children, died last year.
