VERMILLION COUNTY- Several people were arrested today following a nearly two-week long child neglect investigation in Clinton.

Indiana State Police and the Clinton Police arrested the following four family members of 604 Vine Street, Clinton:    

John Paul Woolley, 31; Danielle Elizabeth Woolley, 31; Gordon M. Woolley, 57; and Barbara Jo Woolley, 52. The suspects were booked into the Vermillion County Jail on Vermillion County Circuit Court arrest warrants charging each of the suspects with the same four Level 3 felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.

ISP Sgt. Joe Watts explained this afternoon that allegations involving the mistreatment of four small children led to the investigation and arrests.

Investigation began Oct. 19, when Clinton Police assisted the Indiana Department of Child Services in following up on an anonymous tip concerning the small children.

"Police and DCS workers immediately noticed four small children, an eight-year- old male, a five-year-old female, a four-year-old male, and a two-year-old male, all appeared to be malnourished, unclean, and in need of possible medical attention" Watts said, adding, "The children were removed from the home and taken to Union Hospital of Clinton for initial treatment and later transferred to Riley’s Children Hospital in Indianapolis." 

On October 22, Indiana State Police Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators served a Vermillion County Circuit Court Search Warrant for the Vine Street home.

"During the execution of the search warrant, investigators found the home appeared generally dirty, disheveled, windows covered or boarded, and what appeared to be human and animal feces spread about," Watts said.

John Paul and Danielle Woolley are the parents of the four children. Gordon Woolley and Barbara Jo Woolley are the mother and father of John Paul Woolley and his 29-year-old special needs brother, and the grandparents of the four children.

After being released from medical care, the children were placed in the custody of foster parents. The special needs adult male is in the care of Adult Protective Services.

​The family has reportedly lived in the home for nearly two years and the children are believed to have received little or no routine medical care or education, he said.

The Parke-Vermillion Humane Society removed numerous felines  from the home.

The lead investigator was ISP Detective Don Anglin. Assisting were ISP Detective Angie Hahn and ISP Crime Scene Investigator Sergeant Jim Cody, numerous Putnamville District troopers, Clinton Police Chief Billy MacLaren and Patrolman Justin Nelson, Vermillion County Prosecutor’s Office, Vermillion County Prosecutor’s Office Investigator Basil Ave, Vermillion County EMS, Parke and Vermillion Humane Society, and the Vermillion County Health Department.

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​By Lucy Perry

Just a few days before Halloween, Terre Haute Police have pieced together investigation with an arrest of a suspect accused of arson. The popular haunted house attraction, "Shattered Nightmares," former site was burned to the ground earlier this year, in a what officials have called a suspicious fire all along.

Michael Lehman Jr.,18, of Terre Haute,was booked into the Vigo County Jail last night at around 11 p.m. He is charged with arson in connection to the immense warehouse blaze. The structure and its contents were a total loss.

Emergency crews responded to the warehouse fire at N. 11th Street and Third Avenue Friday, April 17 night to battle the out of control blaze.

Just before 10:30 p.m., a dispatcher announced on  the scanner that flames were seen shooting out of the roof of the structure, which most recently had been used as a local haunted house-type attraction. By the time Terre Haute Fire Department responded to the scene, the entire backside of the building, facing Locust Street, was fully engulfed.

Reportedly, the firefighters had it under control at the one-hour mark of battling the fire, but it roared again. The building caved in and flames hit a power line, causing a blast. (http://www.indianacentralnews.com/news-archive-2015.html)

Today, at “Shattered Nightmares” peak time of operation -- and at a new location --the owners are moving on after the alleged arsonist destroyed the business. Shattered Nightmares is now open at 819 Spang St, across from Providence Medical Center on S. Seventh St.

​Final three days to go through the seasonal building are Thurs, Oct. 29 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday,  Oct. 30 and  Saturday, Oct. 31 7 p.m. to midnight.
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