Mother charged with child neglect

A 32-year-old Burlington woman is charged with child neglect after allegedly leaving her 8-year-old home alone in their apartment.

Molly Muhlenbeck was accused of child neglect – a Class A misdemeanor – after police were summoned to the apartment on Milwaukee Avenue Aug. 25.

Muhlenbeck is due in court Sept. 24 for a pre-trial conference.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Racine County Circuit Court, a City of Burlington police officer was flagged down by two concerned citizens shortly before 9 p.m. on Aug. 25, wanting to know if 8 was too young for a child to be home alone.

The two witnesses allegedly told the officer that Muhlenbeck routinely left her son at home alone in “deplorable conditions” within the apartment. They also told the officer that they have been asked to babysit, but had told Muhlenbeck they could not.

One of the witnesses also allegedly told the officer that she used to pick the son up from school, and noticed recently the boy had lost weight and appeared “unkempt.”

The officer, along with the two witnesses, went to the apartment, and the son opened the door. The officer reported that when she went into the apartment to talk to the boy, she observed “extremely poor” living conditions, including numerous cat hairballs, spilled cat food, dirty dishes over all counters, garbage everywhere, rotten food, laundry baskets and clothes covering the boy’s bed, and six litter boxes in the boy’s bedroom – caked with animal feces and urine.

The officer also reported that she found a bottle of Tramadol pills in Muhlenbeck’s room, which was accessible to the child.

When interviewed, the child allegedly told the officer that he plays his Xbox all day when his mother is gone, that he couldn’t sleep in his room because of the smell, and he would make his own meals. He also allegedly told the officer that he was last outside before summer started, that it had been “a while” since his last bath, that his mother would leave him alone all night and that he often has to wear dirty clothes.

While the officer was interviewing the child, Muhlenbeck called the boy to tell him she was on her way home, and the boy told her that he was talking with police.

Members of the Burlington Area Rescue Squad responded to check out the child, and took him to Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington.

When Muhlenbeck returned to the apartment, she allegedly told police she was at her boyfriend’s house, and that she never left the child alone. She pointed at the two witnesses and said they watch her son. She also did not want to wait inside the apartment for rescue because it was “disgusting.”

She also allegedly told the officer that she had texted one of the two witnesses to watch her son, but couldn’t provide evidence of the text message. That witness told the officer she had not been contacted to watch the boy, but had allegedly been texted before Muhlenbeck’s arrival and asked to lie about watching the boy.

The boy was removed from the mother’s custody and placed into foster care, according to City of Burlington Police Chief Mark Anderson.