6 Children Found in Squalor; Mothers Held on Drug Charges

Six children found living in squalor were in emergency foster care Friday after their mothers were arrested on drug charges.

Police arrived at a Fremont home Thursday expecting to serve a routine warrant. What they found inside horrified them.

The smell of urine and feces permeated the house. Maggot-infested food was spread around the kitchen. In a trailer in the back yard, next to an infant car seat, officers found used hypodermic needles.

In the garage sat six small children, some of them wearing only soiled diapers and one covered with paint.

“It was a real disaster,” Fremont police spokesman Dennis Madsen said. “They’d never seen something like this before.”

The children were taken from their mothers, Katherine Troublefield, 27, and Lisa Magnussen, 29, and put into emergency county foster care. Authorities said the four boys and two girls, ranging in age from 7 years to only a few weeks, were in good condition.

Troublefield, mother of four of the children, and Magnussen, mother of two, were charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

A man found at the house, Ronald Lerma, 29, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a crack cocaine pipe. Authorities said he was not the father of any of the children.

Neighbors said they often saw the children running naked and unsupervised.

“I was afraid to pull out of my garage for fear of hitting them,” said one man, who asked not to be named. “I’m glad the children are at least safe now.”

The officers were serving a warrant against Troublefield for allegedly violating probation from a drug conviction in San Jose. She also has convictions for drunk driving and reckless driving, police said.