Two Lake County parents were arrested after their three children were found living in “horrid conditions” and child pornography was found in the father’s possession, Lake County sheriff’s officials announced Friday.
Logan Jentink, 29, and Sandra Zaluski, 23, of Fox Lake, each face three counts of child endangerment and five counts of cruel treatment of an animal. Additionally, Jentink faces seven counts of possessing child pornography, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
An investigation began after sheriff’s detectives received a tip from an online cloud storage website indicating a device in Lake County had uploaded child pornography to their platform, authorities said. Detectives determined the likely source was coming from a residence in the first block of Woodland Avenue in Fox Lake.
Several Lake County law enforcement units executed a search warrant at the home Aug. 14 and discovered an entire family living in the basement of the residence, including three children under the age of 3, authorities said. Further investigation showed the children were living in unsanitary conditions, including being forced to sleep on the “cold concrete in the basement, which was covered in urine and animal feces,” authorities said.
The children were placed in the care of a different guardian after authorities contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Several animals — including iguanas, a bearded dragon, a turtle and two dogs — were also found uncared for, some appearing close to death from malnourishment, in the basement, authorities said. Lake County Animal Control took custody of the animals.
Authorities also recovered child pornography from Jentink’s cellphone. As of Friday evening, Jentink remained in Lake County Jail pending a court hearing, while Zaluski was released following a hearing Friday with pretrial conditions, authorities said.
