Bronx County Supreme Courthouse.Photo:Getty Images/iStockphotoA Bronx woman and her boyfriend have been indicted after police allegedly found the woman’s two preschool-aged daughters locked inside a filth-strewn room, naked, bruised, alone and eating pieces of a mattress.The Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced the charges against the New York City woman Stephanie Grabowski, 40, and her boyfriend Mark Russell, 45, ina press releaseon Monday.“The defendants allegedly kept these little girls in a house of horrors,” Clark said. “They illegally occupied an apartment and left the children alone without food or clothing. Fortunately, police rescued the girls, and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated. The situation is beyond the pale.”The district attorney alleged Grabowski and Russell were “squatters” in the apartment and indicted the couple on two counts of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree burglary, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Grabowski faces two additional counts of first degree kidnapping, Clark said.Police were clearing the apartment building of “known squatters” in early May when they discovered the two young girls locked inside the room.“The apartment was in terrible condition with urine and feces about the place and there did not appear to be sufficient food, amenities, clothing or clean diapers,” the district attorney’s press release reads. “The officers observed the doorknob of a bedroom and doorknob of an adjacent closet door tied together with a ropelike cord.”Officers then “kicked in the bedroom door and found two girls naked and bruised on a filthy spongelike mattress on the floor, and feces, dirty diapers and garbage throughout the room,” according to the press release. “One officer observed the children to be eating pieces of the mattress.”Police brought the two young girls to the Children’s Advocacy Center and the next day, they were examined at the Jacobi Medical Center, “where they were observed to have significant bruising and marks in various stages of healing, rashes throughout their bodies and difficulties walking, standing and speaking,” according to the district attorney.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.The NYPD Bronx Child Abuse Squad was also alerted, Clark said.The couple was arraigned Monday in the Bronx Supreme Court. It was not immediately clear if either Grabowski or Russell had retained an attorney or entered a plea.Grabowski was dealt a $400,000 bond, while Russell was given a $200,000 bond. The couple is due back in court in September, according to the district attorney’s office.If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Bronx County Supreme Courthouse.Photo:Getty Images/iStockphoto
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A Bronx woman and her boyfriend have been indicted after police allegedly found the woman’s two preschool-aged daughters locked inside a filth-strewn room, naked, bruised, alone and eating pieces of a mattress.The Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced the charges against the New York City woman Stephanie Grabowski, 40, and her boyfriend Mark Russell, 45, ina press releaseon Monday.“The defendants allegedly kept these little girls in a house of horrors,” Clark said. “They illegally occupied an apartment and left the children alone without food or clothing. Fortunately, police rescued the girls, and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated. The situation is beyond the pale.”The district attorney alleged Grabowski and Russell were “squatters” in the apartment and indicted the couple on two counts of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree burglary, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Grabowski faces two additional counts of first degree kidnapping, Clark said.Police were clearing the apartment building of “known squatters” in early May when they discovered the two young girls locked inside the room.“The apartment was in terrible condition with urine and feces about the place and there did not appear to be sufficient food, amenities, clothing or clean diapers,” the district attorney’s press release reads. “The officers observed the doorknob of a bedroom and doorknob of an adjacent closet door tied together with a ropelike cord.”Officers then “kicked in the bedroom door and found two girls naked and bruised on a filthy spongelike mattress on the floor, and feces, dirty diapers and garbage throughout the room,” according to the press release. “One officer observed the children to be eating pieces of the mattress.”Police brought the two young girls to the Children’s Advocacy Center and the next day, they were examined at the Jacobi Medical Center, “where they were observed to have significant bruising and marks in various stages of healing, rashes throughout their bodies and difficulties walking, standing and speaking,” according to the district attorney.Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.The NYPD Bronx Child Abuse Squad was also alerted, Clark said.The couple was arraigned Monday in the Bronx Supreme Court. It was not immediately clear if either Grabowski or Russell had retained an attorney or entered a plea.Grabowski was dealt a $400,000 bond, while Russell was given a $200,000 bond. The couple is due back in court in September, according to the district attorney’s office.If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
A Bronx woman and her boyfriend have been indicted after police allegedly found the woman’s two preschool-aged daughters locked inside a filth-strewn room, naked, bruised, alone and eating pieces of a mattress.
The Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced the charges against the New York City woman Stephanie Grabowski, 40, and her boyfriend Mark Russell, 45, ina press releaseon Monday.
“The defendants allegedly kept these little girls in a house of horrors,” Clark said. “They illegally occupied an apartment and left the children alone without food or clothing. Fortunately, police rescued the girls, and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated. The situation is beyond the pale.”
The district attorney alleged Grabowski and Russell were “squatters” in the apartment and indicted the couple on two counts of second-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree burglary, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Grabowski faces two additional counts of first degree kidnapping, Clark said.
Police were clearing the apartment building of “known squatters” in early May when they discovered the two young girls locked inside the room.
“The apartment was in terrible condition with urine and feces about the place and there did not appear to be sufficient food, amenities, clothing or clean diapers,” the district attorney’s press release reads. “The officers observed the doorknob of a bedroom and doorknob of an adjacent closet door tied together with a ropelike cord.”
Officers then “kicked in the bedroom door and found two girls naked and bruised on a filthy spongelike mattress on the floor, and feces, dirty diapers and garbage throughout the room,” according to the press release. “One officer observed the children to be eating pieces of the mattress.”
Police brought the two young girls to the Children’s Advocacy Center and the next day, they were examined at the Jacobi Medical Center, “where they were observed to have significant bruising and marks in various stages of healing, rashes throughout their bodies and difficulties walking, standing and speaking,” according to the district attorney.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.The NYPD Bronx Child Abuse Squad was also alerted, Clark said.
The couple was arraigned Monday in the Bronx Supreme Court. It was not immediately clear if either Grabowski or Russell had retained an attorney or entered a plea.
Grabowski was dealt a $400,000 bond, while Russell was given a $200,000 bond. The couple is due back in court in September, according to the district attorney’s office.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
