EAST PALATKA, Fla. — A Putnam County man is facing charges of child abuse after two toddlers were found living in a camper in deplorable conditions, covered in feces, an incident report from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office says.
Deputies arrested 34-year-old Owen Kyle Watson Wednesday on two counts of child neglect and a violation of probation warrant out of St. Johns County. The deputies went to Watson's home to serve the warrant when they saw him walking with a 2-year-old toddler outside of a disable RV motor home, the report states.
When deputies put Watson in the patrol car to arrest him, one of the deputies took the toddler and realized her clothing was wet and her diaper felt "soggy," and she "was hit with a horrendous smell of feces and urine," the report states. The deputy asked Watson if she could change the toddler's diaper and get clean clothes from inside the RV. Watson said yes and that there was also a 1-year-old child inside the RV, according to the report.
The deputy could hear the 1-year-old screaming from inside the RV, which had an open door, the report states. The inside was in deplorable condition, with clothes, toys and filth on the floor and a small couch, smelling of feces and dirt, according to the report.
The 1-year-old was standing nude in his crib, covered in feces and peanut butter, according to the report. There was a paper plate with peanut butter on a rocking chair near the crib that appeared to be what both children were eating, as there was no other food in the RV other than a box of instant oatmeal, the report states.
The deputy changed the 2-year-old's clothing and diaper and discovered the child had been wearing the diaper so long that she had sores on her privates, according to the report. She put a clean shirt and diaper on the 2-year-old, then took the 1-year-old out of his crib.
The 1-year-old was covered in a thick layer of peanut butter and feces all over his body, the report states. He also had sores on his legs and feet that appeared to be bug bites.
"I was able to wipe some of the peanut butter off with baby wipes, but it was so thick I was not able to get it all off," the deputy said in the report.
The deputy tried to find formula, milk or water to give the toddlers, but could not find any, according to the report. She got two bottles of water from her patrol car and filled a sippy cup and gave it to the 1-year-old, who drank a total of three cups of water within five minutes, the report states. The 2-year-old drank half a bottle of water.
Both children were placed in a playpen that was in the yard of the RV, which did not have running water or electricity and no septic system, according to the report. There were several gallon jugs with a yellow liquid that appeared to be urine under the RV, which had a large opening in the back bedroom that the children could have slipped through easily, the report states. The bathroom was dirty, with no running water, and the refrigerator was not working, with no food in it, according to the report.
Watson had called his mother, Kimberly Frye, to come pick up the children. He was taken to the Putnam County Jail.
When Frye arrived on the scene, she began to cry, the report states. She told deputies she had previously been in the hospital but had brought gallons of water and food to Watson every week, according to the report. She said she took the children to her home on the weekends and brought them back to the RV on Monday mornings.
Deputies asked Frye if she had seen the inside of the RV, and she said she had, according to the report. She told deputies she would help clean it, and then it would be messy by the time she came back, the report states. She said she believed the family's living situation had been like this for about six weeks, according to the report.
During that time, Frye did not call law enforcement or the Department of Children and Families until Wednesday morning, the report states. Frye said she works at a special needs day care and is a mandatory reporter for the State of Florida, according to the report. The deputy told Frye she should have called when she was first aware of the neglectful living conditions, to which Frye responded that the deputy was "pissing her off," the report states.
A DCF investigator arrived on the scene and said she had received two complaints on the address, with one being Frye's, the report states. The second complaint was that of a small child wandering in the road in front of the home. The investigator told Frye the children needed to be medically evaluated at the hospital, according to the report.
Frye agreed, and the deputy helped her put the children's car seats in her truck, according to the report. Frye had earlier said she took the children every weekend, but she did not know how to install the seats in the vehicle, and the deputy had to install both car seats, the report states. The deputy asked Frye if she used car seats when she took the children on the weekends, and she said "of course," and walked away, according to the report.
Deputies and DCF agreed to let Frye take the children to Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine with DCF, according to the report. "Both children had calmed down and seemed comforted by (Frye's) presence," the report states. The children’s mother is currently incarcerated in an unknown location, according to the report.
Code Enforcement arrived on the scene and condemned the RV, the report states.
Frye will face charges of failure to report child abuse because she did not report the neglect on the children and admitted to knowing about their living conditions, according to the report.
