The home where a Florida couple allegedly locked their six children in rooms with just a potty training toilet was in such deteriorated condition that officers said it was “difficult to breathe” when they went inside.

According to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, 42-year-old Nathan Forczyk and 41-year-old Laura Forczyk were charged with six counts each of child neglect and arrested on Tuesday. Both parents posted $30,000 bond and were released from the Brevard County Jail.

The investigation began when Nathan Forczyk called the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) for help with his children, according to Orlando ABC affiliate WFTV.

Police said when they entered the Forczyk home on Tuesday, they found the couple’s six children locked in separate bedrooms. The children did not have access to “food, water, or restroom facilities,” the affidavit states.

“Each child had been locked in a bedroom containing only a child-sized potty training toilet,” according to police.

The rest of the home was in a “severely deteriorated state” with drywall “ripped off the walls, exposing live electrical wiring,” police said. Officers reported an “overwhelming” stench of cat urine, human urine, and feces that made it “difficult to breathe.” Human and animal waste littered “multiple areas of the home.”

Officers deemed the home “unsafe, unsanitary, and hazardous” to the health of the children.

After Nathan Forczyk was released from jail, he spoke to WFTV in an attempt to explain his family’s situation. According to Nathan Forczyk, four of the six children — ages 6 months to 7 years old — had nonverbal autism. He told WFTV that those children were not potty-trained, and their behavioral issues caused them to damage the home.

A spokesperson from the Palm Bay Police Department told WFTV that the Forczyks were a family “in desperate need of assistance” and “down on their luck.” Forczyk, who told the station that their children came from a “loving home,” had reached out to DCF for help.

Nathan and Laura Forczyk both face six counts of felony child neglect. They are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 30.