PLATTSMOUTH, Neb – The husband and wife arrested after it was discovered that they were subjecting their children to deplorable living conditions reached a plea agreement on Monday.
David Reynolds, 33, and Amanda Reynolds, 36, pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of child abuse.
Those charges were reduced from felony child abuse to misdemeanor cruelty to animals, which was previously a felony.
Their sentencing is scheduled for August 4.
According to court documents, Plattsmouth Police Officers began investigating the couple after someone informed Nebraska Health and Human Services that the children were eating in the bathroom because it was the only clean room in the house.
Officers arrived at the home on July 26 to find David Reynolds sleeping in his car; according to documents, he did so to avoid the conditions inside. According to records, he told the officer that he was in the car waiting and that he believed the children were inside the house in bed, while Amanda Reynolds was at work.
Reynolds agreed to let the officer inspect the home, at which point the officer reported smelling feces and urine and discovering multiple dogs and cats inside. According to records, there was animal feces smeared across the floor, as well as large amounts of clothing and trash; many of the items on the floor had been urinated on or had feces on them. The report also states that urine stains were found in the bedrooms.
The officer accompanied Reynolds to wake up the children, passing through a dining area littered with trash and fly papers. The hallway leading to the children’s rooms was covered in feces.
According to the report, the three children were not bathed or dressed cleanly, and one had several holes in their clothes.
One of the children’s beds was nearly entirely covered in trash, leaving only a small area of the mattress for the child to sleep on. The flypapers hanging from the bedroom ceiling were completely covered in dead insects, and the room contained a rabbit hutch — with two rabbits — that was overflowing with feces and urine.
Another child’s room included a litter box for the cats.
The officer reported that his eyes were stinging as they entered the basement and noticed a pile of feces in the corner, according to the document. The officer asked Reynolds to open the door to a kennel so the dog could get some fresh air, and he asked if one of the kids could do it for him.
The officer stated that the following day, he returned to inspect the home and discovered that much of the living and dining areas had been cleaned. Amanda Reynolds was cleaning the rabbit hutch in one of the children’s bedrooms at the time, but none of the other rooms had been cleaned.
When the officer returned on July 28 to further inspect the basement, he discovered that an entire room had been converted into a rabbit pen, with at least four dead rabbits. The animals’ food and water bowls were empty, and the entire room was covered in feces.
According to the report, David Reynolds claimed to be unaware of the rabbits’ presence.