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Eagle Rock Girl Lived In Home That Reeked Of Poop, Dad Accused Of Selling Fake Drugs

mexican_candy.jpg
Mexican candy at an L.A. gas station (Photo by via the Creative Commons on Flickr)
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An Eagle Rock man and his girlfriend face child abuse charges after keeping their 11-year-old daughter in filthy living conditions in a home where they sold Mexican candy as heroin.Thomas Casillas, 38, and Vanessa Hidalgo, 36, were arrested March 18 from their home on the 4700 block of Eagle Rock Boulevard after police found ammunition, drug paraphernalia including methamphetamine pipes and what they believed to be heroin, Glendale News-Press reports. It turns out those rocks were Mexican candy, Casillas told officers.

It’s no wonder that Casillas had apparently been receiving text messages that said his stuff was “weak.”

The couple’s 11-year-old daughter was taken into protective custody, given the living conditions. Glendale police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot said the house was in “complete disarray and smelled of urine and feces and rotting food.”

Casillas has been convicted before of possessing drugs for sale and carrying a loaded firearm, court records revealed. Hidalgo was convicted of child abuse in 2001 and was on probation for her role in a 2008 gang-related shooting, detectives said.

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The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges from last week’s arrest. They’re scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 2.

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