Philipe & Sherrine Mathieu Charged With 863 Counts Of Child Neglect

May 24, 2010 at 6:37 am by Jaded  

Miami, FL – Allow me to introduce Philipe and Sherrine Mathieu. This lovely couple has racked up an astounding 800+ counts of child neglect in the past 8 years. How, you ask? According to authorities, by forcing their daughter to live in a car and eat, bathe, shit and piss outside. And no, they aren’t homeless – the couple owns a 4 bedroom, 2 bath duplex, complete with electricity and running water. For some unknown and absurd reason, Sherrine forbid her family to enter either side of the home. Ever. The family of three allegedly lived in a Pontiac Grand Am parked in the driveway. But wait! It gets even more bizarre, Demonites. One side of the duplex is spotless and clean, filled with nice furniture, a large TV and flower arrangements, while the other side is reportedly filled with stink, garbage, bugs and plastic bags filled with excrement and other such waste. Sherrine cleaned and scrubbed the nice side on a daily basis while piling more garbage into the filthy side. W.T.F. “The little girl tells us that the nice house, where the furniture was that was the DCF house,” explained Miami Police Commander Delrish Moss, “that was the house that was kept just in case DCF or investigators came looking.” And they did…multiple times. DCF supposedly alerted law enforcement to the conditions of the home, but I’m guessing there was never any follow-up. 

The girl says she has been living in those conditions since she was 8 – she’s now 16. She has reportedly run away several times and may have even gone as far as physically assaulting her mother. Philipe Mathieu told officers he urged his wife to allow them in the house, but she wasn’t having it and he didn’t want to upset her. Authorities say the reason why the family would not sleep inside still remains a mystery. “Those are things we’re still trying to figure out,” Cdr. Moss said. “I mean, detectives asked questions for hours, and they still have more questions to ask. There really is no good explanation for any of this. This is probably one of the more bizarre stories in my 26 years as a law enforcement officer.“ Police discovered the abnormal arrangement after following up on a tip of possible sex abuse taking place at the residence. So far, those claims are unsubstantiated. Philipe, 62, and Sherrine, 42, are denying the allegations. Regardless, each is being held on $430,000 bond. If they do happen to bond out, they have been ordered to stay away from their daughter. The teen has been taken into state custody.

At first I was freaking out, wondering how no one noticed this shit going on, but then I read some of the comments from the family’s neighbors and it started to make sense. Allow me to share a few with ya….

“I would hear her all the time, crying and begging her mama that she wanted to go into the house,” an unidentified neighbor admitted.  “Her mama used to cuss her out all the time.  Ever since I’ve stayed here, and I’ve been here, like, three years now.” “So for three years you heard a child crying?” CBS4′s Tiffani Helberg asked. “I didn’t know what was going on.”

Carolyn Shelton lived behind the house and could see clearly into the backyard.  “They were just weird people. I dunno, but for them to do that to that kid, that’s unforgivable. That’s unforgivable for doing that to that child. She seemed like a smart kid, but I didn’t know how lonely she was,” she said. “I did not know that.  God forgive me for not paying no attention.”

A 16-year-old neighbor said, “It really made me feel sad because she’s the same age as me. I tried to encourage her to go to school, ’cause she’s the same age as me, but she just gave up.”

“I think it’s sad,” said another unidentified neighbor. “It’s like child abuse.”

Huh. A raging case of Not My Problem with a side of stupid. I wish my neighbors would catch on. Anyway, if you’re curious as to the layout of the home and surroundings, you can view a video here.

Philipe and Sherrine Mathieu

Whisperswing has this one posted in the forums as well.

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