UXBRIDGE, Mass. – A man who lived in the basement of a squalid Massachusetts home where the remains of three babies were found says he was unaware of the "inhuman" conditions his children were living in because he was not allowed upstairs.
A trembling and crying Raymond Rivera made the comments following a brief court appearance Wednesday on marijuana-related charges.
The state took custody of four children ranging in age from 5 months old to 13 years old from the Blackstone home in August. The bodies were found in September.
Erika Murray, the children's mother, has pleaded not guilty to fetal death concealment, permitting substantial injury to a child and endangerment.
Rivera, who was the father of at least two of the children, has not been charged in connection with the gruesome discovery.
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