A Florida father remains behind bars after neighbors spotted his two-year-old son walking down the middle of a Palm Coast street alone over the weekend. Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 44-year-old Ross Edward Judy following the Sunday morning incident, which unveiled what authorities described as deplorable living conditions inside the family home.
Concerned residents on Collins Lane called 911 around 9 a.m. when they noticed the toddler walking in the road “with no guardian in sight.” According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, cars were forced to stop to avoid hitting the boy. When neighbors approached the child, he pointed toward his house.
A neighbor discovered the front door wide open and walked inside to find Judy fast asleep. Neighbors estimated the boy had been outside by himself for at least 30 minutes before Judy woke up and brought his son back indoors. Authorities noted that the child’s diaper was “very soiled,” though he was physically uninjured. When deputies arrived at the scene, Judy reportedly went back inside and closed the door.
After letting deputies enter the residence, Judy, who investigators noted smelled strongly of alcohol, allowed a search of the property. The conditions detailed in the affidavit were hazardous both inside and out. The yard was in complete “disarray,” littered with “trash, bottles, rusty cans, rusty tools, electrical wiring, and other miscellaneous hazardous items,” alongside a chainsaw lying on the ground by the front entrance.
Inside, the situation was worse. Trash, feces, and empty alcohol containers covered the floors and counters. “The bathrooms were unusable due to the amount of trash, feces, general filth, alcoholic beverage containers, bugs swimming in toilet water, and the sink was piled high with several inches of cigarette ash to the point that the sink was no longer visual,” deputies wrote in the report.
Investigators also discovered exposed razors, loose needles, and pill bottles left “readily accessible” to the young child. In the boy’s bedroom, deputies found a crib surrounded by dirty diapers thrown on the floor.
The neglect extended to a pet as well. Deputies found a large dog locked inside a cage with severe medical issues. “The dog had a rotting ear infection to the point that the ear was literally rotting,” the affidavit stated, adding that there were “urine stains [were] on the underbelly of the dog” and missing fur across its back and tail.
Judy was arrested and booked into the Flagler County Jail on charges of felony child neglect without bodily harm and animal abandonment. As of Wednesday morning, he is being held on a $4,000 bond. The toddler has been safely turned over to his grandparents.
In a public statement, Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly commended the community for intervening. “No child should be living in deplorable conditions with an adult who obviously doesn’t care about their well-being,” Staly said. “The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has no tolerance for anyone endangering children or animals. I am thankful to our residents who ‘saw something and said something’ so that our deputies could intervene.”
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