Dad angry CPS didn't act before arrest

A father is speaking out against state Child Protective Services after police said his son and another boy were left home alone by their mother and living in filthy conditions.

William Schiminski, 24, of Queen Creek, the father of a 3-year-old boy, said Wednesday that he had filed two complaints with the agency against Samantha Miller-Abernathy, his former girlfriend, claiming neglect of the children on her part in 2007 and 2008.

Police: Children resorted to eating dog food

Miller-Abernathy, 20, who works at a Phoenix strip club, was arrested at her apartment at 265 N. Gilbert Road in Mesa about 11 a.m. Sunday on suspicion of two felony counts of endangerment and two misdemeanor counts of neglect, according to a police report.

She is accused of leaving her two sons, ages 2 and 3, home alone for more than five hours with the door unlocked after she left the apartment at 2 a.m. to visit an ex-boyfriend, according to the report.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, neighbors saw the boys wandering around the complex along a busy road under construction. Police inside the apartment discovered feces and urine stains on the children's bedroom floor. There was alcohol and very little food in the refrigerator, the report stated.

Miller-Abernathy did not return to the apartment until 10:45 a.m., but the father of each boy arrived at 10 a.m., according to the report.

Schiminski, who said he and Miller-Abernathy shared custody of the 3-year-old, said CPS awarded him temporary emergency custody of both of the boys pending the outcome of the investigation.

"This has been going on for two and a half years," Schiminski said of his battle to acquire full custody of his son. "I don't want to say that I'm mad at the system, but I'm frustrated that it took something like this to happen to get full custody. How many times has this happened in the past? I'm very upset at the situation. Something like this shouldn't have happened. I'm grateful for the person who found them, to the Mesa police and to CPS (for giving him temporary emergency custody)."

Despite the stern words about the agency, Schiminski said he is worried that he could lose custody of them for speaking out.

"This isn't about me, or the father of the other boy, it's about the safety of the boys," Schiminski said. "They're safe with me."

Schiminski said he was never married to Miller-Abernathy, but she is married to the father of the 2-year-old and they are separated.

Schiminski said both claims of neglect and bad living conditions for the children he filed in 2007 and 2008 were determined by CPS to lack sufficient evidence and were unfounded.

The agency confirmed that it had one prior report on Miller-Abernathy, which after an investigation was found to be unsubstantiated, CPS spokesperson Kevan Kaighn wrote in an e-mail.

Miller-Abernathy remained incarcerated in a Maricopa County jail and is scheduled to appear in Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday in connection to the offenses.

There are conflicting reports on whether one of the children ate dog food after police found them.

According to a court document, one of the children "went right to the pantry and started eating dog food."

The document, known as a Form Four, is filled out by the officer who makes an arrest and it is used by the judge in setting bail.

Sgt. Ed Wessing, Mesa police spokesman, said the police report he read states that the child went to the pantry and it appeared he was going to eat the dog food, but the officer on scene stopped him from eating it, upsetting the child.

"He did not actually eat the dog food," Wessing said.

Wessing said the officers bought the children food, and they devoured it.

Miller-Abernathy, who is in jail in lieu of $2,700 bail, declined an interview request, according to a spokesman with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.