A Bath County couple has been indicted on child abuse charges after Kentucky State Police say they found a 2-year-old living out of a playpen and a 4-year-old who later tested positive for methamphetamine inside their Owingsville home. Shane Dufresne, 32, and Angel Dufresne, 27, were both actively under the influence of meth when troopers and child welfare workers arrived for a welfare check, according to a Kentucky State Police statement.
The June 18 response came after Kentucky State Police and the Department for Community-Based Services were called to a home on Mill Creek Road in Owingsville following a complaint, as reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader. Investigators found two children living in what court documents described as deplorable conditions, and the residence itself was found not to be environmentally clean, per those same court records. Court documents also indicate the children were being fed only formula.
Officers also discovered the skeletal remains of a dog outside near a tree on the property, according to a Kentucky State Police report relayed by WKYT. Court documents note that dogs in the home were not being fed. A local rescue organization, Strays and Runaways Rescue, was called in to remove nine living dogs, five cats and several chickens from the property, the station's report states.
No Shelter, No Easy Answers for Rescued Animals
Local animal rescue volunteers told WKYT that Bath County has no dedicated municipal or county animal shelter. Independent volunteers and neighbors coordinated placements and care for the seized animals during the police investigation.
Both adults tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and Suboxone, according to court documents cited by the Herald-Leader. Shane and Angel Dufresne were arrested on June 25 in Bath County and later released on $20,000 bonds each. On August 6, a grand jury indicted the couple on two counts each of first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under, with arrest warrants issued following the indictment.
Couple Claims Drug Use Happened Outside the Home
The circumstances of any alleged methamphetamine use by Shane and Angel Dufresne remain unclear. It also remains unclear how investigators or prosecutors have responded, and the current legal status of the bench warrants issued after the indictment has not been reported.
New State Law Targets Drug Exposure as Abuse
The case arrives just weeks after Kentucky House Bill 778 took effect on July 15, according to a legal analysis from Gess Mattingly & Atchison. Under KRS 508.100, first-degree criminal abuse of a child 12 or under is a Class B felony, per the Kentucky General Assembly.
The Dufresne case fits into a much larger pattern across the state. Kentucky recorded a child maltreatment rate of 14.1 per 1,000 children in the most recent federal Child Maltreatment report, nearly double the national average of 7.2 per 1,000 and the fifth-highest rate in the country, according to Kentucky Youth Advocates. The state's abuse and neglect victims include children across age groups.
Systemic gaps extend beyond the moment of removal, though the available sources do not establish a percentage or national ranking for plans of safe care among substance-exposed infants. They also do not establish a statutory caseload cap or county-level caseworker totals.
The long-term custody arrangements for the two young children removed from the Owingsville home have not been publicly disclosed, and it is not yet known what defense strategy Shane and Angel Dufresne's attorneys plan to pursue regarding the couple's claim about where the drug use occurred.
