Lloyd, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of child neglect and two offenses of animal cruelty. Brown, 22, pleaded guilty to two counts of neglect of children, one count of cruelty to animals and one count of failure to provide animal care.
The pair were each originally charged with two civil counts and two criminal counts of animal cruelty as well as with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
While entering his plea, Lloyd, with the help of his attorney, Shepard Kays, said the animals on the property were both those that he raised for sale and kept as pets.
According to his plea, Lloyd acknowledged that many of the animals passed away during a “particularly harsh winter” when they were not provided with the necessary care to survive, but said he did not intend to hurt or kill the creatures.
Lloyd also acknowledged that by failing to remove the decaying carcasses from both the house and the premises and allowing them access to the dead animals, he subjected the two children living on the property — aged 3 and 10 at the time — to health risks.
In pleading to her charges, Brown similarly acknowledged that her inaction contributed to both the deaths of the animals and the children's exposure to the possibility of infection or disease.
Both Lloyd and Brown declined to comment on the case after leaving the courtroom.
Reed said at sentencing that by pleading guilty, Loyd faces up to four years in state prison, but noted that the defendants are both seeking probation as part of their plea.
Kays, and Brown's attorney, Neil Gillespie, said though the duration of the probation period has yet to be determined, conditions would include compliance with Division of Child Protection and Permanency and family court requirements, the payment of restitution and fines and compliance with a lifetime ban on owning, controlling or possessing animals.
Animal cruelty charges related to the seizure of animals from the pair's second rental property in Lafayette remain pending in municipal court there.
According to a press release from the Warren County Prosecutor's Office, on April 1 the Independence Police Department responded to a report of five loose pigs running loose near Russling Road. Upon returning the animals to the owner's home, the police observed numerous animals in various states of decomposition, the prosecutor's office said.
According to Rick Yocum, president of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, more than 190 animals – including pigs, goats, calves, emus, pheasants, chickens, quails, ducks, 70 partridges, a cockatiel bird, chinchillas, hamsters, guinea pigs, chicks, geese, turkeys, cows and a snake – were removed from Lloyd and Brown's custody from their property in Independence and a second rental property in Lafayette.
The two children, who the couple had a “legal duty” to care for, were also removed from the Independence property, the Warren County Prosecutor's Office said in its original release.
The animals from the two properties were taken to the The Barnyard Sanctuary in Columbia and Skylands Animal Sanctuary in Wantage, Yocum previously said.
Warren County Prosecutor Richard Burke said the children were taken to stay with relatives at another location immediately after the incident. An update on the children's current housing situation could not be provided by either Kays or Gillespie on Friday.
Lloyd and Brown will return to court for sentencing on Oct. 2.
(NJ Herald - June 26, 2015)
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