FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A Flagler County mother of four was arrested Sunday after police responded to reports of a disturbance involving weapons and found the family's home in "deplorable" condition.
Amanda Gaisford, 37, faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. The children involved are seven, nine, 13 and 16 years old.
When police searched the home, they found a firearm on top of a collection of Disney DVDs, which could be reached by the seven-year-old and the nine-year-old, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Police say Gaisford said she kept the magazine separately and they found it in a laundry bin.
The firearm was not the only hazard they found. Deputies said that the house did not have running water, did not having working toilets and was infested with bugs. There was "contaminated food" around the home.
In Gaisford's arrest report, the responding deputy wrote: "The residence was infested with roaches, fleas, and other insects, making conditions that are likely to cause physical pain to the children located within the residence. The infestation would be avoidable if not the hoarding conditions of the home, the trash and perishable items left within the home, and general level of completely unsanitary conditions observed within the residence."
Deputies also said the home was littered with drug paraphernalia within the children's reach, and they also found cocaine and marijuana.
They also learned at least one child had not been to school since Oct. 31. Flagler County Schools had requested a welfare check on the child on Dec. 6 due to her lack of attendance. According to FCSO, Gaisford told the school her daughter struggled with "migraines, asthmatic issues, and an infection in her leg," and the school district advised her to get doctor's note. The report says Gaisford told the district she is trying to get her daughter in to online school and that their doctor was "not cooperating with their wishes."
