The COVID-19 eviction moratorium allowed five young children to live and suffer in a fly and waste-ridden Manchester apartment longer than they would have otherwise, the landlord said Monday.
Laurie Grassett, whose family owns McLaurin Enterprise, said she had wanted to evict the three tenants, now charged with child endangerment and reckless conduct, for nonpayment of rent.
But the moratorium — which had been in effect for nearly a year until thrown out in August by the U.S. Supreme Court — prevented her from going forward, she said.
Had the eviction moratorium not been in place, the landlord and authorities would have discovered the situation sooner, Grassett said. However, no court records are on file that show Grassett or McLaurin actually filed for eviction.
"We wish we could have gotten to them sooner to understand the severity of the situation for those children," Grassett said.
They were behind paying rent, and every time the landlord tried to enter the apartment, the family resisted, citing concerns about COVID-19, she said.
On Friday, Manchester police overcame objections from one of the adults and entered the apartment, where they found five children between 2 and 6, police said on Monday.
Police found trash covering the floor, flies and bugs crawling on ceiling and walls, apparent feces near a crib and moldy food where children slept.
"From the outside, officers could see a swarm of bugs and flies hovering around the exterior second-floor apartment windows and when they went up to the door they smelled a distinct stench coming from the unit," police said in a statement.
Grassett said the family had been living in the apartment for about 1 1/2 years. King received some assistance through a veteran-relief organization, she said.
"They were hermit crabs. The husband was the only one I ever saw," said a neighbor who would only give a name of Jimmy. He said King worked at a paving company and constantly worked on his pickup truck. It seemed his wife was responsible for child-rearing duties, he said.
He said the family never allowed the children outside. Once he knocked on the front door to borrow a power tool. King did not open the door fully and passed it through the crack.
Jimmy said he looked inside and saw it was a mess.
"I could tell it was kind of gross. They were embarrassed. It stunk I guess, but Manchester stinks all around," he said. He said he did not consider contacting state child protection workers.
"I understand it's hard," said Jimmy, who has children of his own. "You have to keep up."
State law requires anyone to report suspected abuse or neglect of children.
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