Pennsylvania police arrested a man after finding that his elderly mother had been horrendously neglected in a residence in Upper Chichester Township.
Police said they were called to the residence on Dresner Circle on Sunday by a neighbor who said they had not seen the woman for months and had noted that packages were beginning to stack up outside the door.
When police performed the welfare check, no one answered the door. They saw the presence of flies and trash inside the home and forced entry out of fear that someone might be inside with a medical emergency.
Once they gained entry, they encountered 51-year-old Daniel Klein inside as well as a strong odor coming from the home.
Police asked Klein to allow them to check in on his mother, and they found her unconscious under a soiled blanket in the master bedroom of the home.
Medics called to the home by police found maggots and dried feces when they removed the blanket from Klein’s mother. They also said that the woman was fused to the bed and she had what police referred to as “ram’s horn toenails,” another indicator of neglect.
WPVI-TV reported that the scene was so horrific that at least one officer wore a hazmat suit to investigate.
Police said Klein allegedly told them that he was the sole caretaker of his mother. He added that she had been bedridden for weeks, but police suspected that it could have been months.
Klein was arrested and charged with abusing a dependent person and reckless endangerment
The woman was transported to Crozer Chester Medical Center in critical condition.
Klein was being held on bail of $50,000.
“This is one of the worst cases I’ve seen in my four years as district attorney here,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. “And for this person, the defendant Klein, to do this to his own mother, it’s just… I can’t even imagine.”
A similar incident was reported in Louisiana in 2022 when a couple was arrested after authorities found Lacey Fletcher, their severely autistic daughter, fused to a couch after being neglected for a decade. The two later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were each sentenced to 40 years in prison, but 20 years were suspended.
Here’s more about the alarming arrest:
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