Columbia woman charged with abuse after three children found in dirty home

Columbia police officers were called to assist the Children’s Division with a child neglect investigation on Wednesday.

Officers arrived at the home on Amelia Street and found Teresa Kennedy and three children, an 11-year-old boy, a six-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl, living in the home with trash in piles in every room.

According to a probable cause statement, none of the mattresses the children were laying on were clean and none had sheets on them.

The officers also found the upstairs bathroom flooded with the toilet dry and full of fecal matter.

The probable cause statement says officers saw the six-year-old pick up a tube of antibacterial ointment and squirt it into his mouth.

Kennedy was charged Thursday with three counts of felony abuse of a child. Court documents say she’s been ordered to have no contact with the children found in her home.

ABC 17 News looked in to Kennedy’s criminal history. It dates back to 1988 when she was convicted of assault in the third degree. She also has four prior convictions for stealing and six prior convictions for passing bad checks.

Kennedy is currently in the Boone County jail on a $60,000 bond. Online court records indicate that a court date has not yet been scheduled.