MANCHESTER, NH — Manchester Police have arrested a city couple who are charged with allowing five children to live in a “filthy, unsafe home.”
The situation came to the attention of Manchester Police on January 7, 2023, around 11:30 a.m. At that time, a Department of Public Works employee reported that a young boy at 407 Lake Ave. was yelling out a window saying he could not get out.
Arriving officers also heard the boy yelling and saw him in a sunroom with bars on the window. Police knocked on the door and could immediately smell a strong odor coming from inside. A male, identified as Steven Legault, 36, came to the door and stepped outside. Police told him they needed to check on the well-being of the child. Legault was hesitant but ultimately agreed to let them in.
Inside the house the conditions were deplorable. The odor of urine and feces was very strong, animal waste was on the floor, and trash was throughout the house. There was a gate in front of the sunroom door and the door was shut. When Legault opened it officers saw a wet, discolored mattress and feces on the floor.
Along with the boy in the sunroom, there were four other children in the house, all under the age of 14. The children were removed from the home due to the unfit living conditions.
Through the course of the investigation, police were able to issue warrants for the adult members of the household, Legault and Candace Krauklin, 35.
Both were arrested on January 26, 2023, and charged with felony criminal restraint and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Krauklin also faces a felony charge of witness tampering.
Both will be arraigned today in Hillsborough Superior Court North.
