Local News

Couple charged for child neglect in two counties

PHILIPPI – A Barbour County couple faces felony child neglect charges in Barbour and Marion counties after police allegedly found a child left alone for hours in a home with “poor conditions” and drug paraphernalia.

James Allen Dillow, 33, and Acacia Nicole Dillow, 29, of Philippi, have both been charged with four counts of child neglect creating risk of death or serious bodily injury, a felony. According to magistrate court records, the Dillows were being held on separate $75,000 property/surety bonds, but both of those bonds were reduced to $2,500 property/surety bonds and have since been posted.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Trooper M.A. Fultineer with the Philippi Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, on Oct. 1 around 10:30 p.m., Fultineer responded to a residence on Taylor’s Drain Road in Philippi in reference to a welfare check on a juvenile.

The Barbour County Communication Center advised Fultineer that the Marion County Sheriff’s Office had reached out and asked for someone to be sent to the residence, as there was reason to believe a 10-year-old child was left alone in the home, the complaint states.

Upon arrival, Fultineer witnessed a juvenile inside the residence playing a video game as the room’s window had no curtains. After knocking on the door, Fultineer spoke with the juvenile and learned that the child’s parents, James Dillow and Acacia Dillow had allegedly left the residence that day between 4:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m., the complaint stated. The juvenile reportedly told Fultineer that James Dillow and Acacia Dillow said they were going to Walmart and had taken all three of the child’s siblings with them.

Fultineer noticed a “very foul odor” coming from inside the residence, as well as old food and a large number of flies in the kitchen area, the complaint states. Fultineer let the juvenile continue to play the video game in their bedroom while he waited for Child Protective Services workers to arrive. The juvenile’s bedroom had a futon that appeared to be broken in the middle, and the child’s clothes were in a pile “extruding” from the closet.

Fultineer also noticed there was a stained child’s mattress against the dining room table with no linens, the complaint states. The present juvenile reportedly said their younger sibling would sleep there, but they would also sometimes sleep on the floor in the juvenile’s bedroom. Fultineer observed a glass smoking device and a “grinder” with marijuana in it that was easily accessible to anyone in the residence, including juveniles.

When asked if James Dillow and Acacia Dillow had fed the child dinner before they left, the juvenile allegedly said they did not, but the child had eaten a Lunchable was in the fridge, the complaint states. Fultineer observed the old food on the stove and countertop of the kitchen area to be covered with flies and other bugs. He also found dirty diapers in a backroom of the residence. The juvenile described that room as the “smoke room.” Fultineer also found two more stained and dirty child mattresses with no linens laying in another room.

According to the complaint, once CPS arrived, the 10-year-old juvenile was removed from the residence and transported to a family member’s residence in Marion County.

On the same date, Corporal G. Kennedy with the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office completed a search warrant on Fultineer’s behalf for the residence on Taylor’s Drain Road, the complaint states. Fultineer, Kennedy and Deputy L. Gould searched the residence and found multiple glass smoking devices commonly used to smoke marijuana, the grinder with marijuana residue in it and six glass containers with a “waxy like substance consistent with THC wax.” Fultineer took photographs of the “poor conditions” of the residence.

James Dillow has also been charged in Marion County with one count of manufacturing or possessing with intent to deliver a schedule I or II narcotic or meth and one count of gross neglect of child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, both felonies. He was being held for this charge on a $50,000 property/surety bond that was reduced to a $10,000 property/surety bond and has since been posted.

Acacia Dillow was also charged in Marion County with one count of gross neglect of child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, a felony. She was being held for this charge on a $25,000 property/surety bond that has since been posted.

According to magistrate court records, both have waived their rights to preliminary hearings for these charges, moving their cases forward to be considered by a Marion County grand jury.