Portage Mom Found Drunk While Child Played In Animal Feces
On Monday, October 24, 2022 around 10 PM, Portage Police responded to the 300 block of Beige Ave for a welfare check on a female who had not been at work since last Thursday, according to a police report.
On arrival police met with a man who was holding a female toddler who advised officers he had come to check on the child in the residence. He advised officers he had attempted to clean up as best as he could but the house was in disarray and the mother of the child was in the bedroom of the home sleeping. Officers walked into the home to check on the mother and had to climb over piles of trash, court records stated. Where there was no trash there was heaps of feces from the two dogs and possibly human feces scattered through out each room, officers stated. Officers described the stench as overwhelming, the report states. The child appeared to have been left alone in their room where it looked like they were playing with the feces and smearing it on the walls. In the other 3 rooms liquor bottles both empty and partially filled were scattered around the floor along with piles of feces and urine.
When officers made it to the mothers room they were met with a large puddle of urine and her asleep on the bed. The mother now identified as Jamie Pressley, 39, of Portage wanted to know who called the police immediately when she woke. Officers smelled liquor coming from Jamie and asked her to submit to a breathalyzer. The breathalyzer revealed Pressley was at .237 BAC.
The report states Pressley showed no remorse for the conditions her daughter was living in and she had done nothing wrong. Officers then took time to clean the small child again because there was still dry fecal matter all over the child.
The child was taken to Child Protective Services and the two canines were picked up by Portage Animal Control. Jamie was taken to Portage Community Hospital to be evaluated. After receiving medical clearance she was transported to Porter County Jail.
Pressley was charged with the following:
Two counts of Neglect of a Dependent both Level 6 Felonies.
Two counts of Abandon / Neglect of Dependent both Class A Misdemeanors.
