'You just broke up a family': Lake Stevens couple accused of leaving kids in filthy house respond (VIDEO)

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. -- After they were arrested, the Lake Stevens couple accused of leaving their kids alone in a filthy house answered police questions about their living conditions and their children.

Mark Dorson and Amanda Foley were interviewed separately by Lake Stevens Police last month.

On the taped interviews released Monday, Dorson told a detective it was “bad timing” when officers came to their home filled with garbage and feces.

“I think my house never ever, ever looks like that,” said Dorson.



Inside, police found a 7-year-old and a 3-year-old along with a baby living in deplorable conditions. No adults were home and the baby was locked in an upstairs bedroom, according to police. Investigators said the child was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia.

The couple claimed they asked a neighbor to watch the kids while they briefly left the home.

When asked why they still lived in the house, Foley told investigators they had nowhere else to go.

“I mean, what are we supposed to do, take our kids and live on the street where they are not going to be warm?” asked Foley.

The detective responded, “Honestly, Amanda, that would have probably been safer.”

Video taken inside the house on Jan. 30 by detectives showed shattered glass and animal feces everywhere.

Both Foley and Dorson told the detective they have made attempts to clean up the property.

After the kids were removed from the home, police said they couldn’t find the couple. When asked, Dorson said, “We needed a couple of days, I mean, you just broke up a family.”

He added, “My wife is an emotional wreck.”

Both have entered pleas of not guilty and remain in jail.

The children were placed in state custody.