GRAND ISLAND — Two Grand Island residents have been charged with felony child abuse charges after four children were found in unsafe conditions during the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Daniel Fontaine, 34, has been charged with four counts of child abuse – no injury, each a Class 3A felony, obstructing a peace officer, Class 1 Misdemeanor and resisting arrest – first offense, Class 1 Misdemeanor.
Daniel Fontaine (Hall County, Courtesy)
Amanda Wolfe, 30, was charged with four counts of child abuse – no injury, each a Class 3A felony.
Amanda Wolfe (Hall County, Courtesy)
A preliminary hearing for Fontaine has been set for Oct. 24 at 2 p.m. on Hall County Court, Wolfe’s hearing has been set for 2:30 p.m.
Wolfe posted a personal recognizance bond on Oct. 5; Fontaine’s bail has been set at 10 percent of $10,000.
On Oct. 3 at 9:11 p.m., Grand Island Police Department officers responded to the Lazy V Apartments in reference to a welfare check, having been advised that children were living in unsafe conditions and had matted hair, according to court documents.
Police say they contacted both Fontaine and Wolfe and a foul odor could be smelled coming from both and the inside of the residence. Officers were allowed to look through the home and observe the four children.
The children included a three-year-old, a two-year-old, a one-year-old and a newborn.
Officers observed that the children had no clothes on, only diapers or pull-ups, they were all unwashed with visible dirt on their bodies, had no shoes to wear, had visible diaper rash and the three-year-old had a dirty diaper that had not been checked in five hours.
The two-year-old was restrained in a stroller seat and had matted flat hair on the back of their head, appearing as if they had been there for a long period of time, police stated.
The one-year-old was observed in a play pen with old, rotted food and trash. The newborn was restrained in a car seat with a formula bottle by her side.
All the children were observed to have bug bits and sores.
The apartment had old food and trash covering the floor and the fridge and freezer was observed to have rotten food and bugs crawling inside. There were also cockroaches crawling all around the apartment, police noted.
The bathroom floor was covered in human and dog feces, while the bathtub was covered in bugs and feces.
The two sleeping cots for the children were not used due to them being full of trash.
It was noted all the children had been removed from the home in July 2022 for unsafe and unsanitary living conditions. Fontaine and Wolfe had been working with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on the conditions for over a year.
Both had “been made aware of what is safe and unsafe living conditions and knowingly disregarded these expectations, creating an unsafe environment for their children,” according to court documents.
The four children were placed into a 48 hour hold with DHHS.
Fontaine would obstruct officers when asked to stay out of the home, threatening to force his way into the home past officers holding two of the children. He would refuse to follow several officer commands to stay back and not interfere with the investigation.
When Fontaine was placed under arrest, he would pull away from officers while being escorted to the patrol vehicle, he also kicked the door open while officers were trying to secure him.
He would later disregard officer commands while at the jail to stay in his seat and would have to be forced back into his seat by an officer.
Both were booked into the Hall County Corrections Department.
