Two arrested for elder abuse in Hawkins

Two Rogersville residents were charged Saturday with elder abuse in connection with caring for an adult in less than humane conditions.

Banner Gale Skeen, 56, and Rebecca Jean Armstrong, 46, both of Stanley Valley Road, were jailed when an 80-year-old woman both were caring for was found at the residence.

In a report filed by Deputy Dustin Winter, of the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, he was performing a welfare check on the 80-year-old woman at the residence when Winter interviewed Armstrong and Banner Skeen. During the interview, Armstrong stated that she takes care of the woman. Winter observed that the trailer was in a dilapidated state with the windows being broken and bashed out. As Winter entered the mobile home, there was a smell of feces and rotting food. Ebbie Skeen, 80, was sitting on a couch barefoot beside a portable bed chair. Skeen could not walk very well and could not take care of herself.

There were a large amount of flies everywhere in the house and were buzzing around the woman. The mobile home had large holes in the floor that led straight to the dirt below. There were dog feces everywhere in the trailer, and completely covered the floor in some sections.

The kitchen was piled with dishes covered in rotting food and a thick layer of black mold on almost all of the surfaces of the kitchen and all over the ceiling.

A refrigerator appeared not to be working and contained nothing but rotten food, according to the report. Winter walked to the bathroom and observed that the bathtub was full of trash and the toilet was overflowing with human feces.

Ebbie Skeen’s bedroom was located next to the bathroom and contained nothing but a mattress and a blanket in the floor with dog feces all over it.

When interviewed, Ebbie Skeen stated that when her bed pan gets full, both persons dumped it in the yard beside the house.

Winter went to the outside of the residence and observed a broken pipe leading into the yard that had sewage coming out of it.

There were also no washer or dryer available. Both persons were taken to the Hawkins County Jail while Ebbie Skeen was taken to a safe and clean location.

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Two arrested for elder abuse in Hawkins