Children rescued from home that ‘smelled like death’ say they never went to school, police say

TEMPLE, Texas. (KWTX/Gray News) - Two children who were rescued from a home that ‘smelled like death’ in Texas told police that they had never been to school.

As officers approached the residence, they confirmed the odor, and one officer said the residence “smelled like death,” according to the affidavit.

Officers noticed flies around the windows and attempted to knock on the doors and windows of the home. With no response, they began to think someone was dead.

Police made an entry into the home and found Michael Robbins, 34, and John Robbins, 68, at the door.

When officers inspected the home, they discovered “the home was completely filled with rotting garbage on the floor and surfaces.”

Two children, 8 and 10, were found inside the home sitting in a bathtub half-filled with dirty water, police said.

The children had matted hair that appeared to be infested with bugs, and when they were told to get dressed, they returned in foul-smelling clothes covered in old food stains.

Both children smelled of urine, feces, body odor and stagnant water, and they told officers they had never been to school and did not know how to read or write, police said.

Officers also found one child with rotting adult teeth, the affidavit says.

Authorities learned the children were caring for each other, and Michael Robbins and John Robbins had not been providing them with food.

“The children were immediately removed from the home and taken to McClane’s Children’s Hospital,” Temple police said.

Temple police officers said they learned from neighbors that the children had not been seen outside the home for several years.

A further search of the home turned up mouse and rat feces, maggots and other insects in the sink, rotting food on the kitchen counter covered in bugs and flies, and not a single clean space in the house.

Child Protective Services and the Temple Police Department’s investigations division responded to the scene, authorities said.

Michael Robbins and John Robbins were taken to jail on charges of abandoning or endangering a child with intent.

Both men are being held at the Bell County Jail on a $30,000 bond each.