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Courtesy photos VCBJ / Keith Harms and his wife, Robyn Harms, of Deltona are accused of hoarding more than 80 animals in their Dekltona home, leading to charges of child abuse because a teenage girl was also living there and conditions were deemed unhealthy.
DELTONA -- Describing the living conditions as deplorable, Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies charged a Deltona couple on Wednesday with child abuse after their teenage girl and more than 80 pets were removed from their home.
Deputies arrested the couple, 50-year-old Keith Harms and his wife, 46-year-old Robyn Harms, and charged them both with child abuse.
The investigation was initiated by the city of Deltona after Enforcement Service officers previously noted a strong smell coming from the house at 2984 Cottondale Drive.
The city’s investigation led to the issuance of a warrant to search the home. At the request of the city, deputies responded to the house Wednesday morning to help execute the search warrant.
"Problems were detected immediately when deputies noticed a strong odor of ammonia and animal waste before they even reached the front door," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "When they got inside, deputies encountered a house littered with animal urine and mounds of animal waste throughout every room, on the furniture and even on top of the stove.
Deputies said they couldn’t find any sanitary areas in the kitchen to prepare food and said the stench in the house was so powerful that it was difficult to breathe, Davidson said.
Deltona Enforcement Service officers removed 71 cats and 12 dogs from the house. Three cats were left in the house because officers weren’t able to round them up.
The couple were booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach on $2,500 bond each.
The 16-year-old girl was turned over to the Florida Department of Children & Families.