Young Boy Attempts To Sell Stuffed Dog For Money; Hadn’t Eaten In Days
A 7-year-old Ohio boy was trying to sell his toy dog in an effort to attain money to buy food. That’s the word from Franklin police.
According to Steve Dunham, a Franklin police officer, a concerned citizen came to the police station to tell them about the boy on Aug. 7. The man said the child had been carrying the stuffed animal around a busy Franklin intersection. When they went to investigate, they found the young child in front of a pharmacy. When they approached him to talk, he looked nervous.
Dunham said he thought the boy believed he was in trouble. However, the young boy said he was hungry and was looking to earn money for food.
According to Chief Russ Whitman, the boy had said he hadn’t eaten for several days. Dunham said he purchased the boy food at a fast food restaurant while other officers went to his home. Upon their arrivals, they saw the home in terrible condition. Officers noticed liquor bottles and garbage everywhere, and a powerful cat urine smell was detected.
Other children – four boys ages 17, 15, 12 and 11 – lived in the home. Both parents were at the home during the search, and they were both charged with five counts of child neglect. During an Aug. 9 hearing, they plead not guilty in court.
Whitman said he was proud of what the officers had done, going above and beyond. He said helping people is the reason officers go into the field in the first place.
All boys were placed in the custody of Child Protective Services, which reached out to another family member to pick them up. The children’s parents were not placed into custody, but relatives will continue to care for the kids.
Whitman said a donation drive by the St. Vincent De Paul in Franklin is being held to raise money for the kids.
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