Poplar Bluff couple faces child-endangerment charges

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff couple sits in the Butler County Jail after police officers visited their residence Wednesday and allegedly found them and their five children living in dangerously unsanitary conditions.

Aaron and Teyrsa Medley of the 800 block of Butler Street are each charged with five counts of felony first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk.

According to a news release from the Poplar Bluff Police Department, officers went to the home to follow up on information the department received regarding drug activity at there.

When officers arrived, they contacted the couple in the front driveway. During the course of the investigation, officers noticed there were numerous full trash bags lying on the ground in front of the residence and trash scattered in the front yard and driveway. Officers also allegedly smelled an odor of bad personal hygiene emanating from the couple and an extremely foul odor coming from the home.

Officers discovered the couple had five children, between the ages of 1 and 9, living in the home with them.

Police Chief Danny Whiteley responded to the scene and said officers turned their focus from drug activity to the health, safety and well-being of the children because of possible unhealthy and unsanitary living conditions.

After the couple reportedly granted verbal consent to allow officers to enter the residence, officers allegedly smelled a foul, pungent odor inside that made them feel ill. They also allegedly found each room littered with loose trash and large bags of trash, animal and human feces and/or urine, plus piles of dirty clothing, trash, used toilet paper and diapers covering the bathroom floor.

Aaron and Teyrsa Medley of the 800 block of Butler Street in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, are each charged with five counts of felony first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk. Seen here is one of the bedrooms in the home.Submitted

Additionally, a table and counter tops reportedly were filthy and covered with unknown debris along with food and trash. The inside of the refrigerator and freezer contained food with numerous dead roaches inside of them. On the stove, there was a cooking dish that allegedly had dead maggots under the glass lid and numerous flies were present flying around.

Just inside the door of the master bedroom, officers found a baby crib where the 1-year-old child slept. The bedding allegedly consisted of a dirty mattress and cover without sheets. There was a large pile of more than a dozen dirty and soiled diapers approximately 3 feet from the crib.

The other four children were found to be sleeping on dirty and filthy mattresses and their bedroom allegedly was filled with numerous full trash bags. The carpet was littered with trash, dirt and cat feces, according to police reports. Additionally, there were hundreds of flies in their rooms officers had to swat away.

With the assistance of the Butler County Juvenile Office, the Butler County Children's Division and Butler County Social Services, the children were removed from the residence.

Whiteley also commended Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor for responding to the scene to examine it firsthand.

The Medleys each are being held on $10,000 bond. They are scheduled to make their initial court appearance today at the Butler County Courthouse.

Aaron and Teyrsa Medley of the 800 block of Butler Street in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, are each charged with five counts of felony first-degree endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk. Seen here is the kitchen of the home.Submitted