Police in Stamford, Connecticut, have arrested the father and mother of a 14-month-old boy in what they are calling one of the of the worst neglect cases they have ever seen.
Marina Vouk, 27, and Igor Kotsopery, 41, were arrested on Sept. 28 and police said both of them are dealing with serious alcohol abuse problems.
Authorities responded to 117 Myrtle Ave on Sept. 28 when Vouk called 911 to say she was having a medical problem and they found her severely dehydrated and malnourished, caring for the toddler, according to police.
The smell of rotting food in the house was overwhelming and police said it was also littered with empty liquor bottles and garbage.
"Multiple food wrappers, vodka bottles, beer cans strewn across the whole room," Stamford Lt. Diedrich Hohn said. ".... It shocked everyone; just the heinous nature of just how disheveled this house was.”
First responders "were pretty much disgusted by what they saw," police said. They found the baby malnourished and dehydrated, sitting in a crib infested with bugs and feces all over his body, police said.
If the baby had remained in the "heinous" conditions much longer, he could have died, authorities said.
“If this went on for another week, two weeks, this could have been a very tragic situation and it could have had a different ending," Hohn said. “If this slipped through the cracks and this continued, obviously, this kid was malnourished, something tragic would have happened here.”
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Stamford firefighters removed the child from the home and took him to Stamford Hospital.
"He drank three bottles of milk within an hour period," Hohn said.
The baby is now out of the hospital and the state Department of Children and Families has removed the infant from his parents’ custody and placed him in foster care, police said.
Vouk and said she spent eight days in the hospital to be treated for several medical conditions.
The Stamford Police Special Victims Unit took over the case, applied for a warrant and charged Vouk with risk of injury to a minor when she was released from the hospital on Tuesday. She has been released on a promise to appear.
Police said the baby’s father, Igor Kotsopey, also lives at that house and was hospitalized after police found him drunk and passed out on a sidewalk around the corner in the area of 200 Shippan Avenue. That was two hours before they found his baby in unsanitary conditions.
Police brought the father to Stamford Hospital, where he remained for a week. When he was released on Oct. 5, he was arrested on a warrant and charged with risk of injury to a minor and is being held on a $25,000 bond.
The couple does not have an attorney at this point and will likely use a public defender, according to police.
The Stamford Health Department was called in to inspect the home, which remains off-limits until the health department can clean it up.
Neighbors said they are relieved to hear DCF is now involved and that the baby is out of the hospital and safe in foster care.
“If they are having kids, they need know about the responsibilities first," neighbor Ana Giron said. “I hope that they will help him and that he will find a better home, people who really love him.”
