Marion children were found hungry and dirty; Mother arrested

A woman is accused of neglecting her children after they were found hungry, dirty and with limited verbal skills. Cassie Quick, 36, was arrested for child neglect. She is being held in the Marion County Jail. Officers responded to a Dollar Tree after someone called to report a man screaming and saying he was Jesus and the devil, and the children who were with him were screaming for help. The man was identified as Quick’s husband. He was placed under a Baker Act. According to an arrest report, when officers got there, the children “acted like they were starving.” They were covered in a layer of dirt, appeared anxious and said they had never been to school before. The arrest report states: “The children only knew their first/nickname, did not know when their birthday was and even appeared unsure “How old they were.” During their investigation, officers discovered that Quick had left her children in her husband’s care while she was at work, even though she knew he suffered from bipolar disorder and in recent years Months suffered from increasingly worse psychological episodes. “If he was on medication and mentally stable and getting the help he needed, it would be completely different,” a deputy said. “But you leave them in his care knowing that this is an ongoing problem.” The report also states that Quick admitted to officers that she did not feed the children unless they ate themselves , and she doesn’t know when they last ate. According to the report, DCF investigators had an open case against the family because of these concerns. They had checked on the family three times in the last month and a half before the arrest.