Couple arrested after 4 children found living in home covered in feces, authorities say

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) - A couple in Kansas City is accused of living in filth with four children in the home.

Erik Aleister Castleman, 26, and Stacey Laura-Louise Castleman, 34, were arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree and abuse or neglect of a child.

Officers were called to a home on a report of child neglect.

According to a probable cause statement, when officers entered the home, they immediately noticed a strong smell of urine and feces.

Their boots stuck to the floor as they began walking through the residence. It was smashed into the carpet, smeared on the walls and furniture.

The statement revealed that a toilet and bathtub had feces in and on them. Multiple children’s mattresses were brown from feces and dirt.

The document also revealed that in another bathroom there was human feces and urine on the floor, overflowing in the toilet, in the bathtub and in a bucket lined with a plastic bag.

All four children were found in dirty clothing, barefoot and walking through feces and urine on the floor. The bottoms of their feet were black from dirt. One of the children told officers they had not washed themselves in about a week.

All of the children also had lice.

A child between the ages of 1 and 3 was found in a bouncer in the kitchen, and a puddle of urine was under the bouncer.

When the child was lifted, a large amount of liquid poured from their diaper onto the floor. It was sagging from the amount of waste in it. The officers saw what appeared to be an aggressive diaper rash on the child’s legs.

Stacey Castleman told officers she did not know the last time the child’s diaper had been changed. Paramedics estimated the rash had been present for about four to five days.

Stacey Castleman was heard telling social services, “just take the foster kids, obviously it’s too much for me to handle.”

She also told officers the house was in disarray due to it being the holiday season.

The residence’s landlady informed officers that the house had been in its current state for about a year and at one point had been even worse.

Erik and Stacey’s bonds were initially set at $10,000, and a bond hearing for Stacey has been set for Jan. 14.

She remains behind bars.