Mother of child found nearly dead in squalid Ohio apartment found guilty: court documents

The mother of a toddler who police found clinging to life in a filthy Ohio apartment has been convicted of several charges related to the case, online records show.

Court documents show Rabyah Muballigh appeared in court Thursday and pleaded no contest. The plea means she neither admitted nor contested the charges and serves as an alternative to pleading guilty or not guilty.

Muballigh had previously been indicted by a grand jury for felony assault and child endangerment. His sentencing is set for July 24 at 10:30 a.m., according to court documents.

Police body camera footage shows the moment authorities rescued the child from the squalid home in January.

Sgt. Nathan Penrod of the Fairborn Police Department said the child was severely malnourished. She was treated in hospital for an extended period of time and slowly gained weight.

The little girl was released after showing significant improvement,” Penrod said in a recent email to the National Desk.

The child, Penrod said, was 3 years old and weighed just 16 pounds when police found her. She was also covered in bedbug bites.

They thought she was dead when they went in there,” Penrod said in an interview with The National Desk in March.

A news release says police went to the apartment on Jan. 8, where they found the child lying in a room. The child was conscious but not alert.

She's still breathing! She's still breathing! Let's go! Let’s go!” one of the police officers says in the video.

The images show trash and other items scattered throughout the house.

It was an absolute disaster,” Penrod said, adding that the child’s mattress was covered in stains.

He said animal feces, rodents, cockroaches, insects and flies were found throughout the apartment. The carpets and furniture were also stained.

It was almost on the edge of what I consider what a collector could live with,” he said.

Separate body camera video shows the moments police arrested Muballigh. In the footage, a police officer handcuffs her and it looks like she starts crying.

Part of the video is cut off, but a detective later tells him that he will question him about the case.

She asks a police officer if he can uncuff the handcuffs and put her hands back in front of her, because she says she has spinal problems and the position she was in “really hurts.”

The policeman does so, then Muballigh asks if his child is okay, but the policeman tells him that he is not aware of the child's condition.

“Right now, you're under arrest for felony child endangerment,” the officer says, as Muballigh begins to cry again.

Muballigh is being held at the Greene County Jail in Xenia, Ohio.