Children found living in filth; McCabe, Au arrested

McCabe and Au are due in court this morning

By SUSAN SHARP

LAFOLLETTE, TN. (WLAF)- Two people have been jailed after their children were found in deplorable conditions.

On Saturday, police went to the 164 Rain Valley home in LaFollette, the Grantsboro community, after receiving a call that three children were residing in “undesirable living conditions” and not being given access to food.

When police arrived at the home on May 31, no one was home prompting police to go back the next day.

This time, there was a car in the driveway and Josh Ray Au, 29, was strapping a bicycle to the car roof. The family was going on a camping trip, he said.

Inside the car were three children ages 8, 9 and 12. The two younger children were in booster seats in the backseat while the 12-year-old was asleep in the backseat.

They had slept in the car “overnight because it was warm in there,” the report said.

Also in the car was a menagerie of animals that included two puppies, a caged potbelly pig and two small older dogs.

Au allegedly denied knowing where the children’s mother was.

As police surveyed the car, it was “littered with trash, animal feces, clothes and food,” according to the report.

When Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputy Grant Cole asked Au for his identification, he said it was inside.

Cole took this opening to gain access to the home to survey the family’s living conditions.

Accompanied by CCSO Auxiliary Officer Dylan Thompson, the two entered a home that was allegedly sparsely furnished, had a locked refrigerator, dog feces on the floor and exposed wiring, according to the report.

They also found the children’s mother in a backroom of the house.

Christine McCabe, 37, questioned who the officers were and why they were at her home.

Police asked her why Au had lied about her presence, to which she answered, “he was just probably scared because the police were there,” the report said.

Despite the alleged conditions of the home, McCabe walked officers around the house.

What they found was a home that was not a safe or healthy environment for children.

The home had “little to no furniture” and the refrigerator “had a cable through the door handles with a padlock on it,” according to the report.

Au and McCabe explained their reasoning for the lock.

It was “to keep the kids out of it because they make concoctions and waste food,” the duo allegedly told the officers.

An electrical panel had exposed wiring and a metal outdoor bench was where the oldest child slept, the report said.

Au and McCabe said they were in the process of renovating the basement for the two younger children. When Deputy Cole and Auxiliary Officer Thompson went into the lower level of the home they found it was covered in black mold, bugs scattered over the floor and dog feces was present, the report said.

The officers called in a referral to the Department of Children’s Services. They also arrested Au and McCabe.

DCS assumed custody of three children and animal control was called for dogs and pig.

Au and McCabe are both facing child abuse/ neglect/ endangerment charges.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 6/6/2024- 6AM)