Mindy Mooney (Macon County Sheriff”s Office).
A Tennessee woman is behind bars after she subjected her children to a life of filth and cruelty, Volunteer State law enforcement says.
Mindy Michelle Mooney, 36, stands accused of three counts of child abuse and neglect, according to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.
The allegations concern the living conditions for several children at a residence along Tennessee State Route 52 in Westmoreland, a small town located some 50 miles northeast of Nashville. Locally, the stretch of highway in question is widely known as Highway 52 West.
The identities of the children involved have not been released.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
On Oct. 9, a Macon County detective arrived at the Mooney residence in response to a request by a Macon County deputy and an investigator with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services after the child welfare agency had requested law enforcement assistance with a suspected child abuse and neglect case, according to an affidavit of complaint obtained by the Macon County Chronicle.
Children inside quickly gave the detective statements about the dire state of affairs, authorities say. The children allegedly said trash and animal feces littered the residence — all over the floors, on the furniture, and even in their bedding, according to law enforcement.
The detective himself lent credence to those claims, describing trash covering the entire floor inside as well as the strong scent of animal feces said to be emanating from the Mooney abode.
The alleged victims went on to describe a life where they frequently had no food to eat, the sheriff’s office claims. Indeed, investigators noted that all of the food in the refrigerator and cabinets was molded over or otherwise ruined, according to the complaint affidavit.
But the allegedly filthy and neglectful conditions in the house were not the only issues, according to Detective Robert Jacoby.
The children also told the detective they were physically threatened by their parents, according to the sheriff’s office.
One victim is said to have recalled an instance when their mother advised their stepfather on the proper way to beat the children. The child said Mooney told her husband that, when he hits the children, to “make sure he hits them in the throat,” according to the affidavit.
Authorities also allege the children in the Mooney residence were pulled out of the local public school system and stopped attending any kind of educational or enrichment activities as of Sept. 1.
Citing the circumstances of the residence and the condition of the children themselves, Mooney was arrested, charged and detained in the Macon County Jail on $60,000 bond.
The defendant was slated to first appear in General Sessions court on Wednesday, according to the Chronicle. As of this writing, however, the docket for her case is not a matter of public record.
Law&Crime reached out to the Macon County Sheriff’s Office for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
