Police say filth put children in danger

The family's water had been shut off.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A couple have been charged with two counts each of child endangerment after police found them living in a cluttered, littered house that has no running water.
The children, a 10-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy, lived with Joseph and Rachel Sattarelle at 4553 Viall Road. The boy is the couple's son. The girl is Rachel Sattarelle's daughter.
Police entered the house Tuesday to escort the landlord on a maintenance inspection. When they got there, they discovered a shed and garage full of bagged trash, their report said.
Inside the house, the report said, conditions were worse. They found plastic jugs containing urine. The children's rooms were cluttered, and animal feces and urine were found there, the report said. The family has three dogs.
The basement floor was littered with clothes, trash, toys and animal feces, the report said.
The report said that once a CSB agent toured the house, she immediately elected to have the family removed.
The family opted to stay with relatives, the report said.
A CSB supervisor said Friday the agency is still investigating.
Police arrested the Sattarelles on Thursday when they turned themselves in at the police station. They are both free on bond and are to appear in Mahoning County Court in Austintown at 1 p.m. Monday.
The Mahoning County health district is going to order the property owner, Daniel Fizet, to turn the water back on. Mary Helen Smith, a health district supervisor, said dwelling and premise rules require running water, and the property owner is always ordered to provide it. Fizet will have 15 days to comply with the order.
Landlord-tenant dispute
When Fizet and Rachel Sattarelle were reached to comment, they outlined a landlord-tenant dispute that began when Fizet tried to evict the family in January. They were 10 days behind in rent.
There was never a lease, but an oral agreement included the Satarelles' paying for utilities, Fizet said.
He said that they did pay for utilities "here and there," but by the time he gave them an eviction notice Jan. 25, they were $700 behind. He said he didn't have the money to keep paying for the family's gas, water and electric, so he had them shut off. He said he gave the family notice, and it wasn't a retaliatory action.
At a hearing earlier this month in Austintown court concerning the eviction, he said, Magistrate Donald J. DeSanto told him he shouldn't have turned the water off.
Fizet also said the Sattarelles had permission by the court to have the water turned back on but did not do so.
Rachel Sattarelle said they were able to have their gas and electric restored this winter, but they were told by the water company that there had to be a written rental agreement to get the water turned back on, and they could not get that agreement with Fizet.
Owner's estimate of loss
Fizet said he estimates he's behind $9,000 in lost rent, utility payments and damage done to his house.
Sattarelle said she knows the house was messy. She said the jugs of urine were there because her husband didn't want to spend so much money at the carwash where they got water, because the family's money is tight. She said they spent $50 to $60 a week getting water there. She said they did use some of their water for toilet-flushing.
She said there were no dog feces or urine in the upstairs of the house, though a puppy made a mess in the basement.
She said the family was responsible for garbage pickup but stopped paying for it because they couldn't afford it.
She said that the family was planning to move and was packing, and that accounts for some of the mess.
She said the basement was littered with clothes because she couldn't do laundry with no water. She said she did some essential laundry at her mother's house, where she and her children and the three dogs are now staying.