Police officers in Florida were horrified when they stumbled upon a so-called “house of horrors.” According to a report on Monday, the couple is now cleaning the home after they were arrested on child neglect charges.
According to the Palm Beach Post:
Robert Royall said he gathered his family to help his son clean out the house. They had plans to take away more items today. The initial haul included furniture, tires and wood.
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies were called to to the home of Travis and Robin Royall this week, the Palm Beach Post reported. They said outside the broken-down home were piles of trash stacked up against the walls, and even plants were overgrown. Cops stated there was a strong, disgusting odor emanating from the house that they could smell from the outside.
But inside the house was even worse, they said.
WPTV reported there were “cobwebs with spiders and the floor.” The toilets also “did not appear to have been flushed for several weeks” as well as stacks of trash and dirty laundry piled around the home, the station said.
Cops said the house had no running water, a giant hole in the roof, and no air conditioning. The temperature was 87 degrees inside the house. They were called to the home for a suspected child neglect investigation.
But worst part of the home, police said, was the kitchen.
The sheriff’s office said they spotted “well over 5,000 cockroaches in the downstairs family room alone.”
“When I opened the fridge, you could barely see the bottom of the drawers and shelves due to the amount of dead cockroaches, bugs and cockroach eggs,” the deputy said in a report. “When I opened the oven, about 100 cockroaches fell down and began scattering. The oven was full of discarded food and appeared to not have been cleaned for years.”
Robin Royall told the deputy there were “probably a few million” roaches inside their home.
“They maintain absolutely nothing,” said neighbor Tammy Garceau. “You can see that from the outside... This does not surprise me one bit.”
Neighbors told the station they’ve complained to officials numerous times.
“Good thing, at this point, the children are in better hands,” Garceau added. “I mean, that’s unfortunate as well, but at least they are clean and fed.”
Following the investigation, the Royalls were arrested and charged with child neglect.
Studies find that messy houses can affect behavior in children
According to legal experts, Child Protective Services can only take a child away from their family if they believe there’s abuse, neglect, or abandonment involved.
“CPS can come to your house if your neighbor calls them, but they may look around and say that the allegations are unsubstantiated. If your house is extremely dirty and it’s dangerous to your son’s health, they might have a case. Otherwise, if the only thing is a messy house, that is not proof that you are neglecting your child,” says family law attorney Celeste Miller of Seattle in response to a question.
A study in 2006 found that a tidy or overly messy home can impact behavior and decisions.
Children do well on routine and structure, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ HealthyChildren.org. A messy home, it says, can lead to problem behavior and may be more predictive of bad behavior than parenting style alone, according to a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.
According to the study, “If your child is trying to do her homework at the kitchen table but is surrounded with dirty dishes, stacks of papers and toys, she’s going to find it more challenging to focus on her school work because she might be intrigued by a toy or curious about what the papers say.”
A messy playroom can make it difficult to find a spot to play or harder for a child to choose a toy because there are too many choices, it found.
And more practically, “Letting dirty dishes pile up in the sink or leaving dropped food on the floor can lead to the growth of bacteria that can make your child sick,” it said, per OurEveryDayLife.com.
