Children found living in filth in Whitley home; four people arrested

An animal welfare complaint regarding a horse Monday afternoon resulted in the parents of three children being charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.

About 3:30 p.m., Whitley County Animal Control Officer Wayne Perkins responded to an Old Mill Road residence in the Devil’s Creek community regarding a horse complaint.

What Perkins saw when he got there resulted in him contacting the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department out of concern for the safety of children, according to a sheriff’s department press release.

Perkins said he couldn’t comment about exactly what prompted him to call police because the case is still under investigation.

"It wasn’t a dire emergency, just cause for concern," he noted.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found broken glass and a pungent odor outside the residence, according to the release.

In addition there was a small child outside in the yard with no adults present, Deputy Jonas Saunders wrote on arrest citations.
Deputies made several attempts to get someone to come to the door at the 184 Old Mill Road residence and after several minutes police made contact with James Lockaby, according to the citations.

Lockaby, 57, told police he did not know where the children were. Two children were found inside the home asleep, including one that was naked and wearing no diaper, Saunders wrote on the citations.

Inside the home, authorities discovered three pigs, three dogs and one rabbit, according to the release.

Deputies discovered Lockaby was wanted in Knox County for endangering the welfare of a minor, according to the release.

The parents of the three children, Joshua Duane Jenkins, 24, and Aurora Shauntay Jenkins, 22, weren’t home when authorities arrived at the scene and had knowingly left the children in Lockaby’s care, according to arrest citations.

When the parents eventually arrived at the scene, Johnathan Dawson, 31, accompanied them.

A records check revealed that Dawson was wanted for arrest in Laurel County and he was arrested at the scene, according to the release.

Joshua Jenkins and Aurora Jenkins were arrested at the scene about 6:03 p.m. and each charged with three counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor.

All four were lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.

Social services responded, assisted with the investigation and placed the children in the care of a relative, according to the release.

The children were ages two, two and four years old, according to arrest citations.

Perkins said that the owner of the pigs had just sold them and his family was just caring for them that evening.

He said that overall the animals were in good shape.

In regards to the horse that was the subject of the original complaint, Perkins said that the owner of the horse, a 22-year-old mare, agreed to surrender the animal to authorities.

Perkins said he found a couple who agreed to care for the old horse during its last days.

"It was just an old pet," he noted.

Saunders is leading the investigation. Sheriff Colan Harrell, Deputy Mike Taylor, Deputy Cody Harrell and Kentucky State Police Trooper Dave Lassiter assisted with the investigation.