Woman in case of unsanitary home pleads guilty to reduced charge

A mother charged with keeping her daughter in unsanitary conditions in a Scott City mobile home pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.

Carolann E. Edger, 37, of Scott City, received a nine-month jail sentence with two years' probation during an appearance Thursday before Associate Circuit Judge David Mann. If she completes supervised probation, she will not serve any time.

Edger was originally charged with first-degree child endangerment, a felony with a possible prison sentence of up to seven years.

At the time charges were filed Oct. 4, Scott City police officer Gina Cook filed a sworn statement describing filthy and unhealthy conditions inside the mobile home shared by Edger and her 8-year-old daughter.

"As I entered the residence, I was overwhelmed by the smell of feces and a horrific unexplainable stench," Cook wrote.

There was no running water and the home was strewn with partially eaten food, dirty clothes, dirty dishes and mold growth. The daughter's back had been cut from a splintered piece of wood on her bed, Cook wrote.

There was no food in the home "that would be considered sanitary," Cook wrote, and she suffered numerous flea bites while in the residence.

Scott County prosecutor Paul Boyd could not be reached for comment Friday about the plea. No attorney for Edger was listed in Internet court files.