CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Port Charlotte woman is facing several charges of child neglect after authorities found three children living in disturbing conditions at her home.
40-year-old Melissa Langstine-Troyano was arrested Saturday at her MacLellan Avenue home by the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office.
According to a CCSO report, investigators were performing a welfare check on her three children living in the home, ages 13, 12, and 6.
Deputies immediately noted the smell of urine and feces before even entering the home. Langstine-Troyano answered the door and said the children were not home, but attempted to flee as deputies entered the home.
The three children were home, and deputies observed them walking barefoot through the home as the floors were covered in "garbage, feces, urine, and old food." Dirty dishes filled the kitchen, and bugs infested the home, and a pile of trash occupied the living room.
Further investigation under a search warrant revealed that the master bedroom was the only room in the house that was relatively clean and did not smell like urine, and investigators noted that during an interview with Langstine-Troyano after the arrest that she appeared well manicured and groomed and smelled pleasant.
Investigators were told that Melissa stopped cleaning the house in 2016 and stopped taking the family dog out regularly, even designating a spot inside the home for the dog to defecate.
A freezer in the home had expired meat from 2013 and a box with a dead cat inside.
Langstine-Troyano was booked into the Charlotte County Jail without incident on three counts of child neglect, and the family dog was impounded by animal control.
