In a disturbing case out of Tennessee, authorities have charged a couple with child neglect after discovering two young children living in deplorable conditions. The home, teeming with cockroaches and cluttered to the point where tables obstructed the front door, has shocked local residents and law enforcement alike.

Leon Woods, aged 65, alongside his 36-year-old girlfriend Carol Phillips, faces serious allegations following a wellness check carried out by Chattanooga police. Alarmingly, the children found in their care were just in diapers, including one who was only a year old.

The police intervention on November 21 was initially a response to a domestic dispute between Woods and Phillips, according to a report by the local ABC affiliate, WTVC. The officers’ arrival at the scene unveiled a dire situation.

Due to a barricade of tables, officers were unable to access the front door and had to resort to knocking on a window to alert the occupants. Eventually, Woods managed to clear a path to open the door, allowing the police entry.

What awaited them inside left the officers deeply concerned about the welfare of the children. The conditions were dire, raising immediate red flags about the safety and well-being of the minors involved.

The smell of rotting food and body odor reportedly permeated the air, and the house was so filthy, there was no clear walkway throughout the house, law enforcement claim. Roaches covered the items that sat on the front porch and the food in the refrigerator — and were also crawling on the officers as well, according to the report.

Police reportedly spotted one child in the house wearing only a diaper, crawling around the floor — which, the officers, noted, was also covered in roaches. That’s when Woods allegedly told the officers that there was another child in the house — a 1-year-old found lying face down on a dirty mattress in a bedroom.

The house was said to be filled with dangerous clutter, including a sharp metal gate and nails on the floor, according to police.

A neighbor told the TV station she had spent weeks worrying about the safety of the children, and said police had visited the house multiple times before the parents were finally arrested.

“This child would just scream, and we would report it, and the police would go, and then the police would leave, and I never understood why nothing was getting done,” said the neighbor, who did not want to be identified. She also reportedly filed two child abuse reports in recent months.

Court records show Woods and Phillips have a court date scheduled for Dec. 5.

Woods is listed on the Tennessee sex offender registry as an “offender against children” and has also been charged with violating his conditions of supervision.