Police: Tulsa Couple Arrested, 4 Kids Living In 'Deplorable Conditions'

A Tulsa couple is in jail after police say their four kids were living in deplorable living conditions. 

Police arrested Peter and Amanda Null at their house.

Police say the house had no electricity or running water. 

Detectives say the four children living at the home were all under the age of 8. They say they were dirty, had cuts and scars on them, and had medical issues. 

“The kids were unbathed, dirty, scantily clothed, just not great living conditions that they were in,” says Sgt. Mark Kraft with the Tulsa Police Child Crisis Unit. 

Documents say the house was unsafe because of exposed electrical wiring, holes in the walls, and trash.

I"’m not really sure where they had been going to the bathroom,” says Sgt. Kraft. “There may have been some feces here and there. There was a strong odor of it.”

Investigators say in addition to no electricity or running water in the house, they say there was very little food for the children.

“They said they had food stored at a neighbors house because they didn’t have electricity to keep the food cold in there house. We weren’t able to confirm that,” says Kraft. 

Sergeant Kraft worked the case and says these type of living conditions can have a lasting impact on children, possibly leading to both physical and mental issues.

 “Children can’t live like that in those conditions without mental health issues later on,” says Kraft. “The lack of medical care, the lack of dental care, those will have physical implications.

Kraft says investigators don’t believe the children were abused.

He says while the department has not seen an uptick in these types of cases during the pandemic, there is concern a lot of kids are living like this. 

“Teachers, lawyers, and other family members that would normally see these kinds of behaviors or conditions aren’t seeing that because kids aren’t out of their homes,” says Kraft. 

All four children are now in DHS custody. Both Peter and Amanda Null are in jail accused of child neglect.