EVERETT — Bail was set at $100,000 each Wednesday for two parents accused of abandoning their children for days in a filthy house in Lake Stevens.
Mark A. Dorson and Amanda A. Foley, both 32, were being held at the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of criminal mistreatment and abandonment of dependents.
Due to Dorson’s felony history, he could face up to 3 1/2 years in prison if convicted, deputy prosecutor Katie Wetmore said Wednesday in Everett District Court.
Foley is three months pregnant and has been using methamphetamine, Wetmore said.
The children would have been safer on the streets than in that house, she told the court.
All three children — a 7-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy and a 10-month-old boy — were placed in foster care, said Mindy Chambers, spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services. The state on Wednesday was seeking a court order to retain custody of the children.
Child Protective Services also has opened a child neglect investigation, Chambers said. Privacy laws prevented her from discussing the family history with CPS, she said. Police reports say there had been prior CPS contact with the family.
The older children attended an elementary school and preschool in the Lake Stevens district, spokeswoman Jayme Taylor said. School staff and counselors had made CPS reports on Oct. 2, Dec. 9 and Jan. 30 related to the children missing school, and the older girl’s health, hygiene and overall wellbeing.
“The counselors at the two schools were in constant communication about this family so when reports were made to Child Protective Services, they were on behalf of both children,” Taylor said.
The school district is working with the state to get the kids back at school where they “are very missed,” Taylor said.
“I don’t think anyone had any idea that it was that severe,” she said.
Both suspects talked to detectives after their arrests Tuesday.
Foley covered her face with her hands and cried during the brief hearing.
The judge on Wednesday ordered that both suspects not have any contact with the children.
They were arrested after showing up at a CPS hearing in Monroe.
Lake Stevens police continue to investigate. They initially were called to the house on Saturday and the children were taken to a local hospital. The baby was dehydrated and hypothermic, and had been locked in a separate room, records show.
Police and a code inspector returned to the property on Tuesday to collect evidence. The house also was condemned, in part due to holes in the walls, exposed wiring and damage from water and mold. The floor was covered in human and animal waste.
Dorson has four felonies as an adult, including one from 2002 for shooting a man in Arlington, Wetmore said. Foley has one adult felony for stealing a car.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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