2 arrested after police discover 4 children living in squalor
A Las Vegas Valley student who showed up to school with cockroaches in his backpack led police to discover four children living in squalor, authorities said.
Las Vegas police arrested Patricia Santillan-Ramirez, 43, and Salvador Castro-Roa, 53, at the home where the children were discovered on Feb. 18. Both were taken into custody on suspicion of child abuse-neglect. Santillan-Ramirez also faces an accusation of willful/malicious torture of animals because nearly two dozen cats – several of them starving kittens – were found in the home, police said.
Authorities said the events leading to the arrests started when dispatchers received a call from a Clark County Child Protective Services worker who requested a welfare check on four children purportedly located inside a Las Vegas home.
“Child Protective Services received reports that the juveniles are in terrible living conditions inside the residence and that the juveniles are possibly being neglected,” an arrest report states. “The details of the call also stated that Child Protective Services received reports one of the juveniles went to school with roaches inside his backpack.”
Police responded to the home and encountered a man they identified as Castro-Roa. When asked if there were children inside or if anyone was hurt, Castro-Roa responded “in a nervous manner” that he didn’t know, police said.
Officers went to the front of the home and saw flies on the window and what appeared to be black mold on a curtain. They decided to go inside to check on the children and discovered deplorable living conditions in a home filled with felines.
“Inside the residence, there was a strong odor of animal feces all over the residence that was in unlivable conditions,” police wrote in an arrest report.
Police said they observed black mold on the walls. Inside a dryer they found cat feces and a bag of cat food.
“I then dropped the bag of cat food on the floor,” an officer wrote. “After I dropped the bag, multiple kittens rushed to the bag and started eating through the bag in order to get access to the food.”
Police said there was no food or water in the home for the four children who lived there. Roaches were observed in the home. Santillan-Ramirez subsequently arrived at the home, police said, and confirmed the four children live there with her and Castro-Roa.
The children were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.
Las Vegas Justice Court records show Santillan-Ramirez and Castro-Roa were booked at the Clark County Detention Center on Feb. 18, then released the next day as part of a release agreement in which they were ordered to comply with all Child Protective Services directives.
Both are scheduled to be back in court on Wednesday for a status check on whether prosecutors will file a criminal complaint in the case.
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
