Dad calls home with kids living in urine and rotting food ‘a little dirty’

Nicholas Carter, a 39-year-old father from Florida, was arrested after Flagler County deputies found his five children, three of whom are under the age of 10, living in what authorities described as “deplorable conditions.” The home was filled with feces, urine and rotting food.

The situation came to light when a woman delivering groceries in Palm Coast called the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office after a toddler wandered into her car and then into a garage across the street.

Deputies responded and knocked on Carter’s door, where they observed trash and discarded food through the window. Carter told the officers that the 2-year-old had only been outside for a few minutes and allowed them to inspect the home.

Upon entering, deputies were immediately hit with a “putrid and malodorous odor.” The kitchen was in disarray with dirty dishes, roaches, flies and discarded food.

Several clumps of fecal matter were found in the laundry room, indicating they had been there for days. The master bedroom, where the younger children slept, was littered with dirty clothes, garbage and urine. Feces were also discovered on the floor of a closet, surrounded by flies.

In the garage, deputies found power tools, a BB gun, and a marijuana pipe within reach of the children.

A roommate, who had lived in the home for two years, admitted that the conditions were “frowned upon.” Despite the squalor, Carter described the home as “a little dirty.”

Carter was arrested on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm and allegedly resisted arrest before being taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. He has since posted bond. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) was also contacted.

This was not the first time deputies had been called to the residence. Since January 2023, officers had responded to the home 16 times, including a March 2023 incident in which a child was found wandering the street alone.

In December, Carter called the fire department after one of his children had a seizure from eating marijuana.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly condemned the conditions, stating, “Five children, three under the age of 10, living in deplorable conditions with an adult who obviously doesn’t care about these children.”

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Staly urged DCF to take serious action, noting that Carter has a history of neglectful behavior, including the incident involving a child ingesting marijuana.