FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Two Fairmont residents are charged with multiple counts of child neglect after police respond to assist with a CPS home visit.

On Aug. 1, officers with the Fairmont Police Department responded to a call to assist Child Protective Service workers at 403 Walnut Avenue in Fairmont, according to a criminal complaint.

When officers arrived, they were able to determine that Lynette Ellis, 31, and Bryan Nielsen, 57, both of Fairmont, were living at the residence with six children, officers said.

Officers were able to find evidence of drug use in the apartment, with drugs and paraphernalia being within reach of the children, and the residence did not have running water, which it didn’t for about a month, according to the complaint.

One of the children had scabs on his lower legs, which he indicated were from bug bites from insects infesting the apartment, and that he had scratched the bites continuously, police said.

The complaint also stated that there were piles of dirty dishes with flies and other insects in the kitchen, and every room of the apartment had piles of debris on the floor where paths had been cleared to walk through.

Police also said that there were buckets of fecal waste in the bathroom.

Also, on July 31, Ellis gave birth to an infant fathered by Nielsen, and the child had been born testing positive for methamphetamine, according to the complaint.

As a result of the incidents, Child Protective Services took custody of the children who lived at the residence and the city of Fairmont has condemned the apartment due to the poor and unlivable condition of the residence, police said.

Ellis and Nielsen are both charged with multiple counts of child neglect. They are being held in North Central Regional Jail.