Florida man arrested after toddler found wandering alone in street with soiled diaper
03/19/2025 3:40 pm PDT
PALM COAST, Fla. (TCN) -- Deputies recently arrested a 44-year-old man who was allegedly passed out while a toddler was wandering alone outside.
According to a news release from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, on Sunday, March 16, deputies received multiple 911 calls regarding a 2-year-old who was "walking in the middle of the street in pajamas with a heavily soiled diaper."
Before the incident, witnesses saw the child in the front yard of a residence. They allegedly brought the toddler inside and saw Ross Judy, who WESH-TV reports is the child's father, "passed out on his bed intoxicated."
The sheriff's office responded to the child's location, and the victim led them to Judy, who allegedly reeked of alcohol.
Deputies searched the property and found dangerous tools and trash inside and outside the residence, as well as animal feces, filth, and an emaciated dog with an "almost rotted off" ear and missing fur.
In a statement obtained by WESH, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said, "It might as well be a landfill on the inside of the home. That's how disgusting it looked."
According to the sheriff's office, the home was in "deplorable living conditions," and there were multiple alcoholic beverage containers. Authorities reportedly observed bugs swimming in toilet water and a sink covered in so many layers of cigarette ash that it was "no longer visible."
Deputies discovered pill bottles all over a spare room and on top of shelves in the living room. There were also reportedly exposed razors and hypodermic needles, which could have been accessed by the toddler.
Deputies arrested Judy on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm and abandon animal to die, sick, diseased, or infirm. He was booked into the Flagler County Jail on $4,000 bond.
The 2-year-old was transported to a family member's home.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said, "No child should be living in deplorable conditions with an adult who obviously doesn’t care about their well-being."
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