PENNSYLVANIA -- An Ephrata man will serve probation for housing his 1-year-old grandson in a filth-laden mobile home containing more than 100 animals.
Robert Herman Sr. pleaded guilty to endangering a child and animal cruelty in exchange for the 2-year probation term.
Robert Herman Sr. pleaded guilty to endangering a child and animal cruelty in exchange for the 2-year probation term.
Herman, 57, told the judge he planned to buy a farm and was temporarily housing the various animals in the mobile home in the 800 block of East Main Street.
According to testimony, the child was living in the mobile home, along with his grandfather, his parents — and 105 animals.
Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson said the animals included parakeets, pigs, dogs, turtles, chickens, a dead rabbit, and a chinchilla.
"The conditions inside the home were deplorable with urine and feces covering the majority of the floors and splattered on the walls," Wilson said after Thursday's sentencing hearing. "The environment posed a threat to the health of all the occupants."
The mobile home was eventually condemned, Wilson said.
The boy is living with his parents in another home, according to court testimony.
The parents, William and Pearl Herman, also are charged. Their cases are pending, with guilty pleas expected in the near-future, officials said.
Lancaster County President Judge Joseph Madenspacher appeared baffled by hearing of the numerous animals living in the mobile home.
"It sounds like you put the cart before the horse," he told Robert Herman Sr. "You bought the animals before you bought the farm."
(Intelligencer Journal - Dec 6, 2013)
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