Authorities say 68-year-old Michael Robillard of Webster, Massachusetts, turned himself in at Dudley District Court Friday on a felony warrant for allegedly allowing his 96-year-old mother Helena Robillard to live in what investigators have described as deplorable conditions in her West Point Road home.
"It was trash, an over abundance of trash, rotten food, and just - the smell itself, the conditions of mold, it was awful," Webster Health Inspector Jennifer Sullivan explained.
"They said that there was one working light bulb in the place, the trash, garbage and rotting food was piled so far around the woman that she was in a 3x3 area unable to move, unable to remove herself from the area," Prosecutor John Sares added.
Robillard lives in this home across from his mother, which investigators say was also filled with trash and rotten food.
He said nothing in court as his attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf.
"He's being held responsible because essentially he's her son and whether that falls under the statute is a question later on, but in the intermediate part of it, the house is going to be demolished, it's going to be taken care of, his mother's in good care at a nursing home, his mother loves her son and really is all she has," Robillard's attorney Mike Erlich said.
Meanwhile, officials who found Helena in the home say this should be a lesson to everyone to not ignore signs that something may be wrong.
Massachusetts
The latest news from around the state
"Watch your neighbors, watch for what's going on next to you or around in your neighborhood, keep an eye on each other," Webster Building Commissioner Theodore Tetrault suggested.
Robillard was released on his own recognizance and ordered to stay away from his mother. He's due back in court on Nov. 3.
