RACINE, WI —A welfare check Monday at a Mount Pleasant motel led to three felony charges for child neglect filed against a three Mount Pleasant adults.
Charged with three counts of neglecting a child younger than 6 are Jarrel Gordon, 25; Kayla Ritchie, 25; and Dalton Ritchie, 22. Each of the felonies carries a maximum potential prison term of three years, six months and a $10,000 fine.
Gordon and Kayla Ritchie remain in custody in the Racine County Jail on a $500 cash bond, while Dalton Ritchie is in custody on a $250 cash bond. Gordon also has a $10,000 signature bond. Gordon and Kayla Ritchie are due back in Racine County Circuit Court on June 20, for a 9 a.m. preliminary hearing, while Dalton Ritchie will be back in court June 27.
Mother previously warned about child neglect
According to the criminal complaint:
Officers were dispatched to the Knights Inn, 1149 Oakes Road, and were advised that male children were naked outside of a room.
Dispatch further advised that one of the children had urinated outside, and “there did not seem to be any parents around.” Officers noted in the complaint there had been three other calls to that location for a similar complaint, including one at around 3:30 a.m.
When police arrived, they observed three young male children, naked, running around the front of the motel, and the door to a room was half open. There also were fresh puddles outside the room that police presumed was urine running down the parking lot.
An officer observed “extremely unsanitary living conditions,” and stated he could barely see the floor of the motel room. The officer also found clothing with fecal matter, garbage, dirty diapers, smeared dried fecal matter and bare mattresses with no sheets that appeared to be completely soiled, the complaint states.
The officer also stated the signs of child neglect were obvious, “that the three naked children hadn’t received any basic necessary care, necessary clothing or protection from illicit drugs.” The officer further stated the smell of the room was more than he could bear.
One of the males, later identified as Dalton Ritchie, was in the back of the room on a bare mattress, completely asleep. He told police he was watching the children but had fallen asleep.
The bathroom was blocked off by a mattress with a box spring pushed in front of it. Police later determined that a pit bull stays locked in the bathroom all day.
Gordon, the father of the children, arrived on scene and told police he had left them with Dalton Ritchie so he could get some food. He also stated the children were naked because he did not have money to do laundry.
Kayla Ritchie, the mother of the children, came to the room, and told police the last time she was there was June 7 because she was working. Officers noted she had been previously warned about the children running around the motel naked and the condition of the room.
Two of the children are five years old, and the other is three years old, according to the complaint.
