Rats are incredibly hard to control outside of hiring professionals.

If you believe the dads story he gave to the press, it was an ongoing issue and was being treated, CPS was involved, etc.

The injustice I see here is that dad got over 10 years, while mom got something like a couple of years probation. They were both in that house, there's no reason she deserves a slap on the wrist while he gets locked away and the key lost.

Some areas of Evansville have a pretty big rat issue - mainly the southeast side of town. The area is very adjacent to river/bottom land, as well as the east side sewage plant, as well as being one of the more impoverished and blighted areas of town. It all comes together to make an ideal situation for rodents.

https://www.14news.com/2023/09/22/rat-cant-be-that-big-evansville-residents-claim-neighborhood-wide-rat-infestation/

Friends house had them from where they managed to chew through the exterior wall to get in where the dryer vent exits. Informed his landlord, who just gave him some baits and snap traps and spray foamed the hole. If it's not your house, you can only do so much.

And on the other side you have caseworkers who go out of their way to fabricate cases and have parents arrested/kids removed with zero actual justification - then try to stand behind that whole government employee doing the Hammer dance when they get sued - can't touch me.