By Shereen Siewert
Two people are facing criminal charges after police discovered multiple children living in a Marathon County apartment littered with rotting food, garbage, dead flies and feces, according to court documents.
An investigation began Dec. 20 after an anonymous call to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department reporting possible child neglect. The caller told police the apartment, located in the Colby Cottages, smelled of rotting garbage, had walls smeared with feces and had “flies everywhere.” Police say the three bedroom, two bathroom apartment was nearly completely covered in garbage and was not fit for children.
The entire floor was covered with garbage including piles of items mixed with trash, police said.
Four children, ranging in age from 4 to 13, were living at the home.
A woman living at the home acknowledged feces on a doorway and said she had “not gotten around to cleaning it,” court documents state.
Six weeks later, the couple is facing felony child neglect charges. Matthew Weber, 39, and Megan S. Johnson, 38, will be summoned into Marathon County Circuit Court Feb. 23 for an initial appearance in the case. Each face four counts of neglecting a child, two of which are felonies.
All four children were taken to a safe place to stay until the apartment can be cleaned an inspected by Marathon County Social Services.
