New Ulm woman charged with child neglect
A New Ulm woman is accused of child neglect.
Sandra Aubart, 46, was charged Monday in Brown County Court with gross misdemeanor child neglect and contributing to a need for protection or services.
According to a criminal complaint, Brown County Human Services reported concerns of verbal abuse and unsavory living conditions in Aubart’s home to New Ulm Police in December 2021. The human services report included notes abut video of the family making fun of a teenager with body image issues, according to the complaint.
Aubart allegedly encouraged the teen to kill herself, called her stupid and weak, and ridiculed the child’s mental health.
At Aubart’s home, investigators say there was a “strong, pungent odor,” emanating from the home, which they say intensfied in the upstairs area.
The children’s rooms contained a large fish tank, two caged African gray parrots, a pair of rats, and two chinchillas, according to the complaint. Investigators say gnats were “flying all over.”
Another room in the home contained several birds, hedgehogs, sugar gliders, and hamsters, according to the complaint.
A witness told police the basement of the home is infested with fleas because Aubart takes in wild rabbits, and the children can feel the fleas crawling on them as they do laundry.
