A woman kept two of her five children in makeshift cages and allowed all of her kids to live in filthy conditions that included a house full of trash, rotting food and fleas, authorities said.
The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, reported Monday that Malista Ness-Hopkins faces charges of abuse and neglect. The 38-year-old lives in Mears on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
Kate Bonniwell, a social services worker, described the dire conditions of the home and the children on Friday during a preliminary hearing before an Accomack County judge in Accomac, Virginia. Ness-Hopkins' attorney told the judge the mother was "overwhelmed."
Bonniwell testified she visited the home after her agency received a complaint in late July. She said two of the woman's children were caged inside cribs. Rails taken from other cribs were screwed on top, confining them inside.
Bonniwell said it took her more than 20 minutes to unscrew one with an electric screwdriver. The 2-year-old child inside hissed at her and made noises she described as "animal sounds."
Once the top was removed, the child did not attempt to get out, Bonniwell said. A 3-year-old was confined in another crib. A 1-year-old was also in the room.
"The children didn't act like normal children," she said on the witness stand, adding that the kids were filthy and suffering from multiple bug bites.
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In another bedroom, two other children, ages 5 and 6, slept on bare mattresses, Bonniwell said.
Bonniwell said the toilet in the home's only bathroom was filled with black water. The sink and the bathtub were filled with trash, including plates of rotting food.
Bonniwell said Ness-Hopkins told her she was having a hard time and that she confined the children because she could not watch them. The mother said they had gotten out once and were playing with a can of Drano, Bonniwell testified.
Defense attorney Tucker Watson told the judge that Ness-Hopkins was "overwhelmed." And he argued that there was no evidence that the conditions in the home "were directly harmful to the children."
The judge disagreed and sent the charges to a grand jury.
"This did not happen overnight," Judge Croxton Gordon said. "She said she only screwed them in when she couldn't mind them. But she was there."
Ness-Hopkins is out on bail as of Tuesday. The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, reported Tuesday that a judge required her to seek a mental health evaluation and pursue recommended treatment.
