Douglas mother of 4 faces child neglect charges

[Nevadamedic]

DOUGLAS COUNTY — A Sunridge woman was held on $100,000 bail Tuesday after officers investigating a traffic accident discovered four children living in squalor in their Desert Drive home.

Tamara Cox, 27, was jailed on four charges of child abuse and neglect. She is to appear today in East Fork Justice Court.

The children, whom officers said appeared healthy, were turned over to their great-grandmother.

Deputies and state Child Protective Services officials were called to the residence in the 990 block of Desert Drive by a Nevada Highway Patrol officer who contacted Cox while investigating a hit-and-run report.

A Douglas County sheriff's deputy reported an overwhelming odor of urine and feces when he entered the home.

He said the front entry was dirty with dried mud and unknown substances.

He contacted Cox, who showed him where her children, ages 2 through 12, slept. He said the hallway was caked with feces and stained with urine.

The two boys and two girls slept in separate bedrooms so covered with clutter and old food the deputy could not see the floor.

He said the sink, toilet and tub in the bathroom were dirty and there were soiled diapers and feces on the floor.

He said the kitchen was overflowing with trash, discarded food and dirty dishes.

The deputy said a brisket with an Aug. 2 sell date was on the stove top. Cox told the deputy she had just defrosted the meat the night before.

While officers were at the scene, the children's great-grandmother arrived and agreed to take custody.

She told deputies she quit coming to the residence because of living conditions.

Two cats and a dog also at the residence were turned over to animal control.

Charges were pending against 29-year-old husband Shawn Cox.

Full Story.................
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/...ntprofile=1058

This case hit's home to quite a few members of this forum. Especially with me since one of the children is my daughter from an incident that happened in High School. Unfortunately I haven't seen my daughter in approximately two years (long story guys) and the article in unnacurate on some of the events. The mothers family are some of the nicest law abiding citizens you will ever meet(Two are members of this forum). Unfortunately this situation happened because this woman married one of the bigges pieces of shit in Nevada. I am not saying none of this is the mothers fault, as they are both equally to blame.

This has destroyed 4 children, on of which is my daughter and I could use whatever help, support or ideas you might have. I feel part of this is my fault, if I took a more active role in my daughters life I could have prevented this two years ago, it wasn't like this then. So I feel like qa lot of this is my fault because if I had been a real dad this shit wouldn't have happened.

[Alan]

Ouch! That's gotta hurt!

I read the story when it first came out, and frankly, I'm not sure that it's illegal to have healthy, well-fed children in a dirty house. I take these stories with a grain of salt.

I watch Cops every Saturday. Too often, healthy kids are taken away because "there is no food in the house." Is that illegal?

[Nevadamedic]

Ouch! That's gotta hurt!

I read the story when it first came out, and frankly, I'm not sure that it's illegal to have healthy, well-fed children in a dirty house. I take these stories with a grain of salt.

I watch Cops every Saturday. Too often, healthy kids are taken away because "there is no food in the house." Is that illegal?

That's not the case here.

[Tony]

Wow, what a situation. Don't really have any advice for you other than being there for your daughter starting now.

Good luck!