Pierson, FL - Volusia County deputies arrested a Pierson woman on Thursday after they say two children were living in the woman's home that was infested with roaches and flees and had three dead dogs in the freezer.
35-year-old Victoria Kanger was taken into custody on Thursday. Back in October, a deputy arrived at her home on Hastings Rd. in reference to a well-being check on a child. The father of the child had reported that the home was in extremely poor condition. According to arrest reports, there was "a strong, pungent odor of a mixture of feces and urine before even entering the residence."
The deputy found cockroaches crawling all over the floor, countertops, sink, stove, and walls. Kanger and one of the children were sitting on a couch while the deputy was speaking with them. "At times, a cockroach would crawl on them, and they would casually brush it off," the arrest report says. There were also fleas covering the house and crawling on the deputy and residents of the home.
Volusia County Sheriff's Office says that there was very little food in the home, and numerous cats rested on the shelves where food should have been. There was only one litter box for what appeared to be a large number of cats, and the litter box was overflowing with feces to the point where it could not properly be used.
The deputy had received a tip that there may be dead dogs in the freezer, and when the freezer was checked, there were three dead dogs wrapped in plastic and cardboard. When asked why there were dead dogs in the freezer, Kanger responded that she did not have a shovel to bury them.
According to the arrest report, when asked why the home was in such poor condition, Kanger said that she was disabled and had health issues and could not clean the home as she should. She also blamed the father of at least one of the children, saying that she and the father were in a custody battle, and he was "only trying to get her in trouble."
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) was called to the scene, and a DCF investigator recommended that the children be removed from the residence.
Kanger is charged with child neglect and was held in the Volusia County Jail on $2,500 bond.
(Kanger's mugshot courtesy Volusia County Jail)
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