ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County mother of three children was arrested after a neighbor found the kids wandering an apartment complex alone and then discovered the family was living in deplorable conditions, police said.
The children, who are all under the age of 3, were found last week outside the Eagle Summit apartments on Rio Grande Avenue.
Their mother, Nanishka Villanueva, was found about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday hanging out with a man in the parking lot of a Boys and Girls Club.
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[ Photos: Children found living in deplorable conditions ]
When the neighbor who found the children brought them back to the apartment, a roommate, Georgine Gedeon, didn’t know where the children’s mother was.
When investigators called Villanueva, she claimed to be in Ocala and then stopped answering calls, police said.
Police said there was no food, running water or electricity in the home.
They said they saw roaches from floor to ceiling, feces on the walls and said the home smelled of urine.
Villanueva was found five days later.
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She’s facing three charges of child cruelty and aggravated child abuse.
Her children were taken by Department of Children Families and placed with other family members.
Gedeon was arrested for not reporting the alleged abuse.
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The apartment was condemned.
Villanueva was granted a $1,300 bond, and if she gets out, she will be allowed to visit her children.