A 35-year-old Lyndon mother is facing criminal charges after police found her five children, ranging from 7 months to 9 years old, living in what officers described as deplorable conditions inside a one-bedroom apartment on Fossil Court. Desiree Nicole Pohlmann was arrested this week after officers responded to reports that the young children had been left unattended outside and wandering into the roadway, forcing passing vehicles to steer around them.
Lyndon police were called to the 10100 block of Fossil Court on August 31 after a caller reported the children alone outside, according to WDRB. Concerned community members had alerted Lyndon police about the children, according to WLKY, which first reported the arrest. Once inside, officers reportedly found old food smeared on the walls, mold throughout the home, and the smell of human and canine urine noticeable from outside the residence, according to a news release cited by the outlet.
Children Found Sleeping on the Floor Without Enough Food
According to WLKY’s reporting, the apartment lacked sufficient food or water for the five children, who had reportedly been sleeping on the floor. The unit’s air conditioning was not working during one of the summer’s hottest weeks, the outlet reported, and officers said they found feces and urine inside the home. Lyndon police officers ended up buying food for the children using their own money during the initial response, per WLKY’s account.
Court documents specify the ages of the five children as 9, 7, 4, 17 months, and 7 months old, according to WDRB. All five were transported to a children’s hospital, where a Child Protective Services worker described them as being in the worst condition she had seen in years, WLKY reported. Responding officers were also unable to locate prescribed medications for several of the children, according to WHAS11, which also reported that court records noted Pohlmann was aware of available community assistance resources but was unwilling to seek them or keep scheduled appointments.
Grandmother Present Despite Prior Safety Plan Restriction
Pohlmann’s 76-year-old mother was present with the children in the apartment at the time, according to WLKY. Court records indicate Pohlmann had taken a day trip to Lexington and left the children in her mother’s care, even though the grandmother is a dialysis patient whom Child Protective Services had previously designated in a safety plan as physically unable to care for the children, per the same WDRB report…