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Four Starving Children Rescued from Denver Apartment

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Oct 08, 2013 12:01 PM EDT

According to the local authorities, four young and severely malnourished boys were rescued from a dirty Denver apartment in Colorado. The affidavit, which was released yesterday, Oct 7, detailed the children as possible abuse victims that appeared to only know how to speak in grunts.

The children, ages two, four, five and six, were living alongside cat and human feces, urine and flies. They showed no signs of knowing any kind of spoken language and they were not toilet trained. Their parents, Wayne Sperling, 66 and Lorinda Bailey, 35, have since been charged on four counts of felony child abuse, revealed the Denver District Attorney's office. Although the couple did not live together, Bailey stated that she was still able to see her children every day.

The father, Sperling who is unemployed stated that he did not believe the apartment was filthy. He also stated that he was planning on getting certified to teach his children at home. Bailey added that her children had no developmental disorders and claimed that they spoke to her normally. She also stated that the apartment was safe and not that dirty.

Upon arriving at the scene, the officials stated that the children were so malnourished that they could not identify which boy was the oldest. Two of the children were only wearing diapers. Furthermore, the police stated that the smell in the apartment was almost unbearable. The filth was visible on all aspects of the home with cat urine soaked into the floors. Apparently there were five cats living in the apartment as well. The police stated that right under the bunk beds where the children slept, there was up to two inches of cat feces. The beds had no sheets or pillows.

The rescue occurred after Bailey brought her youngest son to the St. Joseph's Children's Hospital due to a cut on his forehead back on Sept 29. The doctor who treated the boy noticed that he did not speak at all. The boy appeared to have be unwashed and reeked of cigarette smoke. After the doctor noticed additional bruising on the boy's ear, the hospital notified the Denver Police. The police went with Denver Human Services caseworker, Jill Perry to check on the welfare of the children.

The children have since been placed in protective custody.

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