No contact with kids for 6 years, court rules

FORT WAYNE Marian Clark and her husband, Robert Boyko, had a house in Monroeville.

But it was in such disrepair that a family friend was going to gut it, free of charge, and replace the appliances and countertops and fix it up.

To do so, though, the family of nine had to vacate. So they took their dogs and their cats and their seven children and they went to the Hallmark Inn, 3730 E. Washington Blvd.

Within weeks, that room was so trashed and so filthy, the couple ended up with 14 felony charges between them and their children removed by social services in January.

They drew attention to themselves when they called Neighborhood Code Enforcement to complain about the lack of heat in the motel room.

When code officers got there, they called the police after finding the children in deplorable conditions inside a urine-soaked room with food strewn about. Some of the children were zip-tied to chairs and car seats.

None was dressed for the cold and snow, according to court documents.

The children were eating food from the floor, which was also being used as a bathroom by two cats and a dog.

Some of the children had red feet and hands from having been outside in an unheated van with temperatures dropping below 10 degrees. An infant girl was taken to a hospital and put in intensive care, suffering from hypothermia and jaundice.

On Thursday, the couple were in court to be sentenced on those charges. And while they faced no prospect of prison time, appearing in court in the presence of media and family members stressed them out to such an apparent degree they wanted their hearing continued.

Read this article:
No contact with kids for 6 years, court rules