Mom charged with keeping filthy house

A mother of three has been charged with child endangerment after deputies found her and her children sitting in the dark in a bedroom of her house that was covered with filth, rotten food, animal feces and debris.

Bridgett Deniel Flynn, 27, was arrested Jan. 20 and is to appear in East Fork Justice Court on Feb. 7.

She was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Three deputies, alerted by an anonymous tip that the children might be endangered, came to Flynn's residence in the 1100 block of Autumn Hills Road at 6 p.m. Dec. 4.

According to the deputies' report, the house was dark and piles of garbage, toys and broken glass were scattered along the front of the residence.

The front door was missing the doorknob and open about 2 inches. Deputies knocked, but no one answered. The door swung open and officers said they were overwhelmed with a strong odor of animal feces, garbage and rotting food.

Believing the children could be in danger, the deputies announced "sheriff's office" several times and entered.

They found almost every surface covered with clothing, garbage and debris. One deputy found a bowl of cereal on the dining room table in milk that was covered with "green fuzzy mold."

Officers estimated that dirty dishes and rotting food was piled at least 18 inches on either side of the kitchen sink. Mouse feces covered the kitchen counters, according to the sheriff's report.

Clothing and debris was piled 1-2 feet in all the rooms.

When deputies searched the house, they found Flynn and her three children, ages 3, 5, and 9, sitting in the dark in a bedroom.

She said she was hiding because she didn't know who was in the house.

Flynn told deputies that the children live with her mother, but had been visiting for two days.

Confronted about the condition of the house, Flynn agreed it was uninhabitable and said she was moving in with her mother.

She reportedly told deputies that her boyfriend wouldn't help with housework and she couldn't keep up. She said the kitchen had been in its current state for about two years.

Flynn said clothes were strewn about because she was sorting what she would take when she moved.

The children were picked up by their grandmother.