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A woman and her boyfriend were charged in New York City earlier this week for the horrific neglect of their two young daughters, whom authorities found naked and bruised while locked in a feces-filled room and eating parts of a foam mattress, according to the local district attorney. According to Bronx district attorney Darcel Clark, Stephanie Grabowski, 40, and Mark Russell, 45, who were squatters in an apartment on East 138th Street, were charged of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, burglary and endangering the welfare of a child. “The defendants allegedly kept these girls in a house of horrors,” Clark said. “They illegally occupied an apartment and left the girls alone without food or clothes. Fortunately, the police rescued the girls and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated. The situation is beyond the limits.”
NEW YORK — A woman and her boyfriend were indicted in New York City earlier this week for the gross neglect of their two young daughters, whom authorities found naked and bruised while locked in a room littered with feces and eating parts of a foam mattress, according to the local district attorney.
According to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, Stephanie Grabowski, 40, and Mark Russell, 45, who were illegally occupying an apartment on East 138th Street, were charged with second-degree kidnapping, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, robbery with trespassing and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for what allegedly occurred in May of this year. Grabowski was also charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping for conduct that occurred between November 14, 2022 and May 3, 2023 at East 169th Street and the apartment.
The couple was arraigned Monday where the terms of the bond were set. They are due back in court on September 13.
Information for Grabowski’s or Russell’s attorney was not immediately available.
According to the district attorney’s office, citing the indictment, the charges stem from what happened last month and even months before.
On May 3, at around 10:30 a.m., NYPD and field intelligence detectives were allegedly evacuating a NYCHA apartment on East 138th Street that was inhabited by Russell and Grabowski, who were described in the complaint. indictment as “known trespassers”.
According to the district attorney’s office, citing the prosecution, the apartment was in appalling condition with urine and feces all over the place. There also did not appear to be enough food, toilets, clothing or clean diapers, according to the indictment.
Allegedly, officers responding to the scene apparently noticed that a bedroom doorknob and an adjacent closet doorknob were tied together with a rope-like cord. When they kicked open the bedroom door, they found two naked and bruised girls “on a filthy sponge-like mattress on the floor, and feces, dirty diapers and trash all over the room,” the district attorney’s office said. .
Additionally, an officer saw that the children were eating pieces of the mattress.
Grabowski was later found to have a Family Court warrant after eloping from the Administration for Children’s Services in November 2022 and took it to Family Court. Protection orders were issued at that time.
The officers took the girls to the Children’s Advocacy Center on May 4 after being discovered where a nurse examined the girls and improved the case, alerting the NYPD Bronx Child Abuse Squad. On May 5, the girls were examined at the Jacobi Medical Center. They were found to have significant bruises and marks in various stages of healing, rashes on their bodies, and difficulties walking, standing, and talking.
“The defendants allegedly kept these girls in a house of horrors,” Clark said. “They illegally occupied an apartment and left the girls alone without food or clothes. Fortunately, the police rescued the girls and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated. The situation is beyond the limits.”
2023-06-30 05:10:55
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