Tony D. Blosser and Candace J. Conrad (Central Regional Jail)
A 36-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman in West Virginia were arrested over the weekend for allegedly forcing a young child to live in deplorable conditions that included feces on the walls and drug paraphernalia being left out in the open.
Tony D. Blosser and Candace J. Conrad were both taken into custody on Saturday and charged with two counts each of gross neglect of a child creating a substantial risk of death or serious injury, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Troopers with the West Virginia State Police Gilmer County detachment on March 23 responded to a call about a child possibly being neglected at the Oak Valley Gardens apartment complex in the 100 block of Mudlick Run Road in Glenville, according to a report from Clarksburg, West Virginia, NBC and ABC affiliate WBOY.
Upon arriving at the scene, troopers made contact with the caller, who told the troopers they had just seen a soaking wet child wearing light clothing who was “playing in the roadway,” a criminal complaint reportedly states. It was 48 degrees outside at the time.
The troopers were able to track the child’s home to a residence where they also located Blosser and Conrad, according to a report from Morgantown, West Virginia, news radio station WAJR. When asked about the child’s whereabouts, the couple reportedly said that they “assumed” the child was asleep in his bedroom.
The couple then walked the troopers through the home, which is reportedly described in the complaint as “messy” and “unclean” with multiple “unsafe infractions” in plain sight.
When they got to the child’s room, the troopers noted that the door had been shut and several bungee cords had been used to keep the child from opening it. Police described the situation as the child being “locked inside of (the room) from the outside with a bungee system,” per WBOY.
Inside the room, the troopers said they found “feces smeared into the carpet along with being smeared into the walls.” Additionally, police allegedly found several pieces of drug paraphernalia that were inside of an open drawer of the bedside dresser.
In an interview with the troopers, Conrad is alleged to have admitted to using one of the items of drug paraphernalia — a pipe — to smoke methamphetamine the previous day.
Blosser and Conrad were transported and booked into the Central Regional Jail where they both remained in detention on $20,000 bond as of Monday, records show.
Conrad is currently scheduled to appear in court again for her preliminary hearing on March 27 while Blosser’s preliminary hearing is currently scheduled for April 3.
The West Virginia State Police and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to messages seeking additional details about the case.
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