ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A Florida elementary school says it has yet to take action against a teacher arrested with her husband on child abuse charges.
Robyn Harms, 46, and husband Richard Harms, 50, were arrested after Volusia County deputy sheriffs removed more than 80 pets from their home and placed a 16-year-old girl with the state Department of Children and Families, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Deputies served a search warrant at the Harms home Wednesday morning, Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said.
"When they got inside, deputies encountered a house littered with animal urine and mounds of animal waste throughout every room, on the furniture and even on top of the stove," he said.
Although the 16-year-old girl lived in the home, investigators were unable to find a sanitary area in the kitchen to prepare food, Davidson said.
Harms and her husband face animal hoarding and child abuse charges.
Robyn Harms has been a fifth-grade teacher at Blue Lake Elementary School in DeLand, Fla., since 2001, said Nancy H. Wait, a spokeswoman for the school system.
"Her employment status has not changed as we have not had an opportunity to speak with her," Wait said.
Once school officials are able to meet with the teacher, it will be determined if any action needs to be taken, she said.
DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said the teen was placed in protective custody pending a hearing to determine if relatives or loved ones could provide care for the girl "if the courts determine going home isn't in the child's best interest."
