Background: News footage of the house in Temple, Texas, where two children were allegedly found in deplorable conditions (KWTX). Insets (left to right): John Robbins and Michael Robbins (Bell County Jail).
Two Texas men are behind bars after police found two young children in their home, which allegedly "smelled like death."
John Robbins, 68, and Michael Robbins, 34, were arrested on May 22 and charged with child endangerment after police were called to their home in response to calls from neighbors about the odor. According to an affidavit obtained by local CBS affiliate KWTX, officers from the Temple Police Department responded to the home on May 20 and smelled a foul odor before they went inside. One officer, according to the court documents, noted that it "smelled like death."
Police said there were flies buzzing around the property, and when no one answered the door, they believed someone had died inside.
After no one responded to the police, the officers got inside the house and encountered John Robbins and Michael Robbins, who had been coming to the door. As the officers began surveying the condition of the home, they said the entire household was "completely filled with rotting garbage on the floor and surfaces."
The officers eventually made their way to the home's bathroom, where they found two children, ages 8 and 10, in a bathtub that was half-filled with dirty water. According to police, the children had matted hair that was infested with bugs. When they got dressed, their clothing was dirty and covered in food stains. Police said the children smelled of "urine, feces, body odor, and stagnant water." One of the children had rotting teeth.
When police spoke to the children, they said they had never gone to school and could not read or write. They also said the Robbinses were not feeding them, and the children had to take care of each other. Police had the children transported to a hospital.
According to the affidavit, further investigation of the home revealed the presence of animal feces, maggots and other insect activity in the sink, and rotting food on the counter. Police said there were no clean surfaces in the entire home.
The relationship between the Robbins men and the two children was immediately disclosed.
KWTX reported that the neighbor who reported the odor coming from the Robbins home was studying to be a mortician and recognized the smell. Another neighbor told the station that she would hear one of the children playing by herself in the backyard after dark.
John Robbins and Michael Robbins were both charged with two counts of endangering or abandoning a child and are in custody at the Bell County Jail, where they are being held on $60,000 bond. Their next court date was not available.