Couple plead in filth case

A Carson City couple accused of allowing their children to live in filth pleaded to lesser charges Monday after agreeing to continue parenting classes and maintain contact with child protective services for a year.

Cory and Sarah Baird each pleaded to one count of disorderly conduct stemming from a January incident in which detectives investigating a fraud report allegedly found the Baird children in a Broadleaf apartment filled with trash. In exchange for the pleas, charges of gross misdemeanor child neglect and endangerment were dropped.

Deputy District Attorney Kate Johnson noted the lesser charge was a result of the couple's cooperation with authorities and the continued close supervision by the Division of Child and Family Services.

Johnson said a family services caseworker was regularly visiting them after a doctor expressed concerns about the growth of their infant son. It was during a lapse in these visits, over the holidays, when the trash accumulated and the Bairds were arrested.

According to the arrest report, the apartment had trash, clothing and food strewn throughout the three bedrooms. Dried feces was found on the walls, bars and mattress of a crib in which their 2-year-old daughter slept. Neither drugs nor alcohol was found on the premises.

"I read the probable cause report and it was startling, troubling," said Justice of the Peace John Tatro in sentencing them both to one day of time served and one year of probation instead of 179 days in jail.

Cory Baird said a DCFS caseworker comes to the family's apartment weekly to teach them parenting classes and they are midway through the course.

"This is a very loving young couple," said Defense Attorney Kay Ellen Armstrong, noting a lack of education on the part of the Bairds was what led to the problem. "They're just wild about their kids and pleased to be working with DCFS."

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.