CHILLICOTHE, Ohio— According to police reports, a three-year-old child was found wandering around the Sherman Park apartment complex on Sunday.
Officers with the police department responded after receiving a call from a resident who found the child alone.
Police arrived on the scene and spoke to the resident, who said she had seen the child running around the area for a few hours with no one watching him. The resident told police which apartment the child lived in and that no one was around.
Reports state that officers found the apartment door open and the inside of the residence in deplorable condition. Officers said they found urine and feces on the floors throughout the apartment.
Officials say officers entered the apartment and yelled for anyone inside to make their presence known. After repeated attempts to get a reply, reports say, officers proceeded to the second floor, where they found a man passed out in the bedroom.
After several attempts, the officers were able to wake the man. When asked if anyone else was in the apartment, the man said, “no.” Officers asked him several more times before he eventually said his child was there. The man reportedly told officers, “Oh yeah, where is he.”
The child, according to police, was covered in scratches and feces. The three-year-old was taken by medics to Adena Regional Medical Center.
Police say the man was cited for child endangerment, and the three-year-old was placed in the custody of Children’s Services.