By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
April 11, 2007

A Cascade Locks couple has lost custody of two young children due to unsanitary living conditions and methamphetamine use.

“You had your kids in the most disgusting conditions that I have ever seen. And that didn’t happen overnight; it was something that had been going on for a long period of time,” said Hood River County Circuit Court Judge Paul Crowley at last Thursday’s hearing.

He delivered a stern message about parental responsibility to Virginia Caldwell, 26, and Breck Snyder, 29. He also warned them to take his words and the court directives seriously.

“You need to understand that the leash you have is really, really short. If you slide back into where you were, there’s a very good chance that, in short order, we’ll be talking about a revocation of parental rights,” said Crowley.

“So, if you love the kids, if you care about the kids, understand that if you pick up a needle, you pick up a pipe, you hang out with people that you used to hang out with — you’re going to be saying goodbye.”

Caldwell and Snyder pleaded guilty on April 4 to criminal mistreatment and drug possession. She is the biological mother of both children, who were placed in protective custody, and he is the father of one of the children. The children are now living with a relative in the area.

Deputy Prosecutor Carrie Rasmussen said photos of the family home would have qualified for the cover of “Meth Home and Garden Magazine.”

She said Caldwell and Snyder will not regain custody until they have made some major life changes. They were placed on 24 months of supervised probation to successfully complete a substance abuse treatment program. In addition, they must undergo a psychological evaluation and obtain any counseling that is recommended. They also have to provide a safe and stable living environment, which includes employment and keeping pornographic material away from minors.

“This is a classic example of what meth does to families. With the heaviest toll being the long-term harm to the children, who are trying to survive in this environment,” said Rasmussen. “It’s hard to understand how these children could grow, much less thrive, in a household where even the air they had to breathe was overwhelmingly nauseating.”

The reek of cat urine and rotten food greeted Sheriff Capt. Jim Tomson and Deputy Matt English at the door of the trailer in mid-March. They had arrived at 869 Forest Lane to evict Caldwell and Snyder for non-payment of their rent.

The law enforcement officials knew that young children lived at the residence. So, when they glimpsed the mess inside the trailer, they asked for, and were granted, a search of the premises.

Deputy Pete Hughes joined them in scouting out the interior — skirting carefully around the piles of cat feces on the floor. He said a dead goldfish was floating in a tank of murky water. And there was black mold growing on many of the household surfaces, and in dozens of empty food cans that littered the kitchen.

He said a basket of sex toys was also found next to the children’s reading material in the living room. Pornography was also discovered inside the dishwasher and hanging out of Caldwell’s purse, which also contained meth.