CLARKSBURG, WV – A 44-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were arrested in West Virginia after police found their residence uninhabitable due to unsanitary conditions. Authorities confirmed that Katrina Lynn Hall and William Jason Butcher were taken into custody on Sunday and face charges of gross child neglect and animal cruelty.
The couple was also charged with violating West Virginia’s open dump law. Officers with the Buckhannon Police Department initially visited the South Kanawha Street residence for a home confinement check on Hall on Sunday afternoon. It was not disclosed why Hall had been ordered to home confinement.
Upon arrival, officers observed trash and discarded food outside and on the front porch. Inside conditions were reportedly worse. According to police, the home was unfit for the child living there, with floors covered in food and trash. In a bedroom, police discovered a bucket filled with human waste left in the open. Also found in the home were multiple open bottles of beer, cigarettes, drug paraphernalia, and a CO2 pistol.
Police also noted a dog locked in a cage that appeared to have not been cleaned for several days, lacking food or water but containing a large pile of feces. The home was additionally reported to have no heat and unsanitary bathrooms, posing multiple health risks.
The couple is now in custody, and the child has been removed from the home.