Share and Follow
Background: Doddridge County Early Learning Academy in West Union, W.Va. (Google Maps). Insets (left to right): Dwayne and Dorothy Hickman (Doddridge County Sheriff”s Office).
Dwayne Hickman, aged 37, and Dorothy Hickman, aged 29, have been charged with two counts of gross child neglect. This followed a report on February 10 from the elementary school their children attend. According to information from a criminal complaint obtained by local ABC station WBOY, a staff member at Doddridge County Early Learning Academy in West Union raised the alarm. The town is situated approximately 30 miles from the Ohio state line. The concern arose after staff discovered cockroaches in one child’s backpack.
Authorities reported that school staff observed the Hickmans’ son with bug bites on his face, hands, and bottom.
According to local CBS affiliate WDTV, the Hickmans’ daughter approached her teacher with a request to have her clothes washed because they were “very dirty.”
Local CBS affiliate WDTV reported that according to police, the Hickmans’ daughter asked her teacher if she could wash her clothes for her, saying they were “very dirty.”
Deputies from the Doddridge County Sheriff’s Office referred the Hickmans’ case to Child Protective Services (CPS), which sent a representative to inspect the family home. After a CPS employee notified police about the “extreme deplorable living conditions” at the Hickmans’ home, both children were removed from the parents’ custody and are now in the care of CPS.
Dwayne Hickman and Dorothy Hickman were each charged with two counts of gross neglect of a child creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury and arrested on Feb. 12. During their first court appearance, they both pleaded not guilty. A judge set their bail at $20,000.
Both Hickmans are still in custody at the North Central Regional Jail. They are scheduled for preliminary hearings on Feb. 18.