SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — A Southington couple faces felony and misdemeanor charges after the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) visited the home multiple times last year.
Brian Bushnell, 31, and Casimarie Castro, 29, were arrested in February and are both charged with two counts each of risk of injury to a minor and negligent cruelty to persons.
According to the affidavit, DCF began looking into the case in June 2022, an investigator reported there was a strong odor of cat urine when she arrived.
Once inside the investigator reported the house was cluttered and had garbage to the point she couldn’t sit down. The investigator noted feces smeared on the walls of the children’s shared bedroom, according to the affidavit.
The DCF investigator allowed the couple to clean the home and no action was taken.
A month later in July 2022, another complaint was made. One of the children told investigators that would be locked in his bedroom for a long period of time and would lie down by the door and urinate on himself, according to the arrest affidavit.
The age of the children and their relation to Bushnell and Castro is not known but the affidavit states they were old enough to go to school.
During the second DCF visit in July 2022, the investigator noticed the locks were on the inside, but one of the children said it had been changed recently.
The affidavit states the two children were examined at Connecticut Children’s where they noticed small unexplained bruising but could not say for sure it came from physical abuse.
One of the children was at risk for moderate malnutrition and had a low Body Mass Index.
The two children were removed from the home and stayed with other family members for the time being. In September 2022 the children's condition has improved.
After months of investigation, Bushnell and Castro were arrested in 2022 and later released while awaiting a court appearance.
Both are scheduled to be back in court in June.
Jake Garcia is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jgarcia@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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