City couple charged with endangering
Police reports say roaches, bed bugs crawling on children
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YOUNGSTOWN -- A Youngstown couple was arrested by Austintown police and charged with three counts of child endangering Sunday after police said the house where they were living was infested with bed bugs and cockroaches.
The charges brought against Miranda Campbell, 32, and Jason Goodspeed, 39, follow multiple police reports referencing their negligence as far back as December of last year.
Youngstown City School District officials notified the Youngstown Police Department on May 9 about three children who had arrived to school wreaking of an unbearable stench on numerous occasions. In addition to their smell, the school also complained that there were often times bed bugs carried with them into school, having crawled on them or in their bags.
According to a police report, an email sent from the school stated, "the children change clothes when they arrive at school to clean clothes due to the smell of the children and the bed bugs that are still on their worn clothes from home."
Campbell told officers that same day their home does have a "few" bed bugs, but she had treatments done to try and get rid of them. She informed police that she hadn't been contacted by the school at all, and she became upset with the situation and explained to the officers that she already had an open case with Mahoning County Children Children Services at the time.
Officers stepped inside to check the condition of the home and noted a large infestation of bed bugs and cockroaches, according to the police report. Both officers advised that the bugs were crawling all over the beds and floors in the upstairs of the house.
When they attempted to check the basement, there were so many roaches on the door and landing, they were unable to go into the basement, the report states.
While another officer made his way to the school to ask about the original email and confirm the issues, photos of bite marks on the children were taken by a crime lab. The original Children Services case worker then advised officers that she would be removing the children from the home and placing them in the custody of their grandmother.
"It should also be noted that while we were working through these issues, Miranda began cleaning out the house, bringing trash bag after trash bag to the curb," the report states. "The smell from the bags was so strong that we had to move away from the curb. The bags appeared to have trash as well as bedding and clothes in them."
Both Campbell and Goodspeed were picked up by Austintown police around 8 p.m. Sunday when an officer conducting a traffic stop noticed that Goodspeed's license plate, next to his name, appeared in the police database pinging a warrant for his arrest through the YPD. Campbell was the other suspect who had a warrant and they both were transferred to YPD in a Burger King parking lot on Mahoning Avenue, the police report states.
Further details in an extended report about the incidents on May 9 state that the children had suffered from bed bug bites.
"While there, I spoke to the Kirkmere principal, Michelle Payich, who stated the kids always come to school with dirty clothing and not properly groomed," one officer stated in his report. "She further stated that the children are still changed out of their clothing and not properly groomed. Yesterday morning, the children had approximately six roaches crawl out of their clothing when they were changing."
Since these incidents, the house has been red-tagged by the health department.
dnewman@vindy.com