Bunnell, FL – A phone call to the Abuse Hotline from a 14-year-old saying she was thinking about committing suicide because of living conditions and
alleged physical and emotional abuse by her mother, results in the arrest of her parents, 33-year-old Dennis Allen and 42-year-old Betty Nicolicchia-Allen.
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said the teen also said that she is being home-schooled but not being taught anything. She alleges that she’s being used as a full-time caregiver to her four siblings, (ages 6, 8, 9, and 12), three dogs, a rabbit, and two chickens. She said she has do take care of everything because her parents work until the late hours of the night.
FCSO deputies responding to the home on Water Oak Road found the home to be in complete disarray. They say the grass was tall enough to hide a small child and there were gas cans, beer cans, rust covered metal materials, and other trash scattered across the yard.
Deputies were let into the home by the 14-year-old who contacted the Abuse Hotline. The deputies found deplorable living conditions in the home. Every room of the home contained an abundance of animal feces, animal urine, rotting food, roaches, and other flying insects. There was no edible food in the refrigerator. There was one bag of frozen chicken in the freezer. Some rooms were so littered with trash that deputies were unable to see the floor and their boots stuck to the filth-covered floors.
Deputies also found that the home had no running water and that a water hose was run through the window and into the shower. The toilet appeared to have been used for days on end with no way to discard the waste in the bowl.
The children in the home told deputies that they hadn’t had baths in a while, from 3 days to a week, because they had to travel to Bull Creek Fish Camp to do so.
“This is a traumatic situation for all of the children involved,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Halloween is a day where kids should be out having fun, not contemplating ending their life. I want to commend the girl for calling the Abuse Hotline and being brave enough to ask for help. These children were living in deplorable conditions. I am thankful that these kids are now safe from these two individuals who obviously do not know how to properly care for children.”
The children are now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families. Based on the teen’s statements to the Abuse Hotline, she was taken into protective custody under the Baker Act.
Betty Nicolicchia-Allen and Dennis Allen are each charged with five counts of Child Neglect. They were arrested on Friday afternoon, November 1, and transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. They remain in jail on a $5,000.00 bond each.
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Source:: News Daytona Beach