Couple squatting in NYC public housing complex hit with child abuse charges: ‘House of horrors’
June 27, 2023 · By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon for nypost.com
Couple squatting in NYC public housing complex hit with child abuse charges: ‘House of horrors’
A couple allegedly squatting in a Bronx public housing complex abused and neglected their two young girls so severely that the starving youngsters were forced to eat their filthy foam mattress, prosecutors charged on Monday.
The girls — three and four years old — were bruised, naked and covered in feces when cops and city workers finally rescued them May 3 from a “house of horrors” at NYCHA’s Mitchel Houses, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office said.
Now, their mom Stephanie Grabowski and her beau, Mark Russell, have been indicted on a slew of criminal charges, including kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment.
“The defendants allegedly kept these little girls in a house of horrors,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement.
“They illegally occupied the apartment and left the children alone without food or clothing,” Clark said.
“Fortunately, police rescued the girls and a nurse discovered signs of abuse for which they are being treated,” she added. “The situation is beyond the pale.”
Prosecutors said a Bronx couple squatting in a “house of horrors” at the Mitchel Houses public housing complex neglected their two young girls, who were found naked, starving and bruised by city workers on May 3.
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Grabowski, 40, and Russell, 45, were arrested after cops and city workers moved in to clear out the apartment — and walked into a nightmare.
Prosecutors said the grimy apartment reeked of urine and feces and had very little in the way of food, clothing, amenities or even diapers for Grabowski’s young daughters.
Police said a rope was attached to the doorknob of the bedroom door — allegedly to lock the girls in.
The youngsters were examined at Jacobi Medical Center and “were observed to have significant bruising and marks in various stages of heating,” as well as “rashes throughout their bodies,” the DA’s office said in a press release.
They also had “difficulties walking, standing and speaking,” prosecutors said.
Grabowski and Russell have both been held at Rikers Island since their arrests.
At their arraignments Monday, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio ordered them to remain locked up under the same bail conditions — $150,000 cash or a $400,000 bond for Grabowski and $100,000 cash or a $200,000 bond for Russell.
