DEMING, N.M. – Two Deming residents were arrested on child abuse charges after Luna County Sheriff's investigators found four children living in an unkempt home where rattlesnakes were caged in chicken wire.
Frederick Probst, 31, and Heather Billy, 22, each face four counts of child abuse, a third-degree felony. The children — ages 7, 3, 1 year and 6 months — were taken into custody by state social workers.
Deputies responded Friday to a report of a 3-year-old boy walking and running barefoot.
They discovered the children at a home that had a non-working toilet, dirty dishes piled in a sink, no running water and a child in soiled diapers. The home had animal and human feces inside and other evidence of poor child care.
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