Police: Rosemount Child Lived in Hoarding House Among Vermin, Feces; Parents Charged With Neglect

A couple is charged with child neglect after police say their elementary school-age child had been living in their home among stacks of clothing, trash, spoiled food, vermin and more.

Michael Harry McGuigan, 56, and Toni Louise McGuigan, 55, each face one gross misdemeanor charge in Dakota County of neglect of a child. The maximum penalty for the charge is one year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, police allegedly knew social services had been involved with the family from 2009 through September 2011 due to unhygienic conditions and hoarding, and that an elementary school-age child lived there.

Police went to the residence on the afternoon of April 4, but received no answer when they knocked on the door. They allegedly saw a vehicle in the driveway full of clothing from the floor almost to the roof.

On the morning of April 5, police and a social worker went back to the house, the complaint says; Toni McGuigan, identified as the child's mother, was home, while Michael McGuigan, his father, was not.

When police entered the home, they allegedly saw stacks of clothes to five feet high forming a narrow passageway to enter other rooms, the complaint says; in the lower level, trash and other items were stacked to the ceiling, with entryways completely blocked.

Dirty dishes and pots and pans covered the kitchen counters and stove, police say, and the refrigerator contained mostly expired or moldy food.

The complaint says police also saw cockroaches, other insects and feces.

Police found the child at a friend's house, the complaint says; he allegedly told them his mother said to go to the friend's house "because the police and social services were going to take him away."

The child told police he had heard his father call their house a "death trap," the complaint says.

The child was placed in foster care.

A first court appearance for Toni McGuigan is scheduled for July 16. A first appearance for Michael McGuigan is scheduled for July 9.