POLICE: Feces Found in Child's Hair, Two People Behind Bars
By: KNWA, Fayetteville, AR
Updated: April 17, 2012
(Lowell, AR)--Two kids in Northwest Arkansas are safe after police say they found one with feces in her fair and another had dried feces on his shirt.
"Fortunately the kids are taken out of that situation...They really deserve to be in a better home," said Officer Shaun Hutchins with the Lowell Police Department.
Michael Lackey and Wilma Boyd are each facing five counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Minor in the Second Degree.
"This was a real extreme, extreme terrible case."
Officer Hutchins says they received a call from Tucker Elementary School last week about the suspicion of child abuse.
"The female had, had animal feces stuck in her hair and when officers went by to the house, one of the children got off the school bus, came home and had dried feces on his shirt."
The home sits on a family-filled street in Lowell with a well-manicured lawn, but behind the front door Hutchins says the case was even more serious.
"There was significant bruising on both children, we also found there was five children living at the home as well as 10 dogs and seven cats...The house was infested with feces and urine over the children's bedding, over their clothing."
He says he has never seen anything like it.
"The officers were literally attacked by fleas as they went into the house, they were covered in them, they had to leave several times for air because the smell of the urine in the home, um, feces on top of feces...A mother gave birth to a litter of kittens in one of the child's closets, on top of their clothing."
According to Hutchins, all five children are now in custody of the Department of Human Services and he says he is thankful the school made the right call.
"The teacher, the faculty at the schools, they know these kids, they know their parents, they know their demeanor and they know if they come in acting different...In this case, that's the way we got an arrest to get these kids to safety."
Some neighbors our sister station KNWA spoke with say they had their suspicions but others say they never would have thought anything was going on.
The investigation is ongoing and, according to a police report, the school principal said the suspect in a sexual assault case involving two young boys was also living in the home.
School officials and teachers are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse, but they are not the only ones.
Complete list of mandated reporters in Arkansas
"Fortunately the kids are taken out of that situation...They really deserve to be in a better home," said Officer Shaun Hutchins with the Lowell Police Department.
Michael Lackey and Wilma Boyd are each facing five counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Minor in the Second Degree.
"This was a real extreme, extreme terrible case."
Officer Hutchins says they received a call from Tucker Elementary School last week about the suspicion of child abuse.
"The female had, had animal feces stuck in her hair and when officers went by to the house, one of the children got off the school bus, came home and had dried feces on his shirt."
The home sits on a family-filled street in Lowell with a well-manicured lawn, but behind the front door Hutchins says the case was even more serious.
"There was significant bruising on both children, we also found there was five children living at the home as well as 10 dogs and seven cats...The house was infested with feces and urine over the children's bedding, over their clothing."
He says he has never seen anything like it.
"The officers were literally attacked by fleas as they went into the house, they were covered in them, they had to leave several times for air because the smell of the urine in the home, um, feces on top of feces...A mother gave birth to a litter of kittens in one of the child's closets, on top of their clothing."
According to Hutchins, all five children are now in custody of the Department of Human Services and he says he is thankful the school made the right call.
"The teacher, the faculty at the schools, they know these kids, they know their parents, they know their demeanor and they know if they come in acting different...In this case, that's the way we got an arrest to get these kids to safety."
Some neighbors our sister station KNWA spoke with say they had their suspicions but others say they never would have thought anything was going on.
The investigation is ongoing and, according to a police report, the school principal said the suspect in a sexual assault case involving two young boys was also living in the home.
School officials and teachers are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse, but they are not the only ones.
Complete list of mandated reporters in Arkansas
