Oldaker

Peters

ELKINS — A pair of Elkins residents were arrested Thursday morning after police found children in what they called “atrocious” living conditions.

Samantha Renee Oldaker, 27, and Joseph Paul Peters, 32, have both been charged with felony child neglect with risk of serious injury after law enforcement officers conducted a welfare check on Harrison Avenue.

Oldaker and Peters each are being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $65,000 cash-only bond.

According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 10 a.m. Sgt. C.G. Boatwright of the Elkins Police Department responded to the location after a caller to Randolph County 911 heard adults yelling and children screaming inside the residence.

Upon arrival, Boatwright observed through a window a soiled diaper laying on the bed, dog feces and trash throughout, and toys, which indicated that children were probably present, the criminal complaint states.

According to the complaint, officers then made contact with Oldaker inside the residence. She told officers the children were running around screaming and playing, and that the place was a mess, but the officers shouldn’t worry about it.

The complaint states that Boatwright entered the home, recording “disgustingly atrocious” conditions via his body worn camera, discovering feces, urine, trash, moldy food and live maggots.

Two children at the residence had feces-covered feet and were visibly dirty, according to the criminal complaint. The children were quickly removed and placed with the Randolph County Emergency Squad. Two small dogs were loose inside the home while one larger dog was in a crate so it could not move. They were taken into custody by Animal Control.

According to the complaint, Oldaker told police multiple times that the children did not reside there and that the family stayed upstairs with tenants there. Those tenants told officers that the children had not been there for two months.

Child Protective Services obtained multiple photographs of the children at the residence and gathered information about three other children that were not at the home but were in school.

The complaint states that due to the deplorable and disgusting conditions that the children were living in, both Oldaker and Peters were placed under arrest and taken to the EPD for processing.