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Couple plead guilty to child neglect

By Jim Wozniak
Erwin Bureau Chief
jwozniak@johnsoncitypress.com

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ERWIN — A couple last week were placed on probation for a year and will learn in another court whether they will regain custody of their children in a case of filthy living conditions and youngsters with lice.

Angie M. Walker, 26, and Kevin Lee Walker, 50, both of 1210 W. Park St., pleaded guilty Thursday in Sessions Court to two counts of child neglect. Another three counts of that charge were dismissed to help facilitate the plea, Assistant District Attorney General Fred Lance said.

In July, Maj. Mike Hensley of the sheriff’s department found four young girls with their heads shaved and lice sores covering their heads. He also saw another small girl sitting in the living room barefoot with roaches crawling around her.

The family’s mobile home also had roach-infested cabinets and a sink full of dirty dishes with roaches and flies crawling on them, Hensley said at the time. “There’s no cause for letting things get that bad,” Harris said then.

Lance said the couple are required to obey the orders of Juvenile Court and the state Department of Children’s Services and take part in parenting classes.

“It’s our understanding the children are still out of their custody,” he said. “This (plea) will not affect that proceeding, which will continue. Whether or not the children are returned to them, that’s up to the Juvenile Court here in Unicoi County.”

He said that issue is still pending. “The key thing from our point of view is the children are safe, these individuals under the law basically have an opportunity to prove themselves, and that will be handled through the Juvenile Court,” Lance said.

Harris said in July that someone called authorities after seeing one of the children with lice in her hair and a roach in her ear. Hensley said Mrs. Walker told officers that she had been treating the children for lice and the situation in the house “had just gotten out of hand.”