HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — Cass County prosecutors charged the parents of seven children with endangering the welfare of a child after their children were found alone in a dirty motel room on Oct. 7 in Harrisonville, Mo.
Lt. Michael Prindle with Harrisonville police said they were notified by a school official that the children of Brian Gregerson, 38, and Tammie Gregerson, 35, had not been to school in over a week. When police arrived at the motel where the family had been living, they found seven children and three cats inside a room at Cortez Hotel, located in the 1300 block of North Commercial Street.
Lt. Michael Prindle said the children, ranging in age from 3 to 12 years of age, were alone. He further stated the bedding was in disarray and urine appeared to be on the bed sheets. In addition to trash littering the floor, Prindle said cats had urinated in several places on the carpet. A small amount of food was found in the refrigerator.
While Prindle spoke with the children, their parents arrived and they were placed under arrest. The Gregersons told authorities they had arranged for another woman living at the motel to look after their children while they were away. Police confirmed this with the woman, who told authorities she did not have enough money to feed the Gregersons children in addition to her three. The woman told authorities the Gregersons had left their children unattended several times for more than 12 hours at a time.
The Gregersons told authorities they were moving items from one house to another after they were evicted.
Police records revealed the Gregersons had left their children unattended before at a previous address. Due to their history of leaving their children home alone and unsupervised, Prindle requested charges be filed.