Police and child welfare officials say six children in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, spent years in a house so filthy and violent that it was finally condemned – and that their parents allegedly used baseball bats as a “regular” form of discipline.
Reporter Maxine Rose of CBS 21 has been standing outside the family’s West High Street home, describing it as “deplorable” and now officially unfit for anyone to live in.
According to Rose’s reporting, the case involves not just child abuse, but a late-night kidnapping, animal neglect, and years of red flags that seem to have stretched back to 2019.
A Screaming Child Runs Into an Auto Parts Store
Maxine Rose explains that one key turning point came in August 2025, just down the street from the family’s home.
Police were called to a NAPA Auto Parts store, where an employee told CBS 21 he remembered a customer rushing in with a screaming child to get them to safety and calling 911.
That child, Rose reports, told officers their mother, 35-year-old Ashley N. Dishart-Christensen, had chased them down the street with a wooden baseball bat.
Charging documents cited by Rose say the child described being struck with the bat as a “regular form of discipline” and said it hurt “a lot of times.”
According to Rose, police wrote that Dishart-Christensen also allegedly choked the victim until they couldn’t breathe.
An officer who responded made a ChildLine referral after hearing from the children’s father, 39-year-old Robert Christensen Jr., about “discipline” tactics like forcing the kids to stand on their heads or press their noses against the bedroom door.
Right there, you can see the system trying to engage – a scared child runs to a stranger, a worker does the right thing and calls 911, and an officer flags child protective services.
The disturbing part is that, according to court documents quoted by Rose, alleged abuse reports stretch back to 2019, long before that child burst into the auto parts store.
Years of Alleged Abuse Behind Closed Doors
In new charging documents, Maxine Rose reports that all six children, whose ages now range from 4 to 11, were interviewed in early November 2025.
Those forensic interviews, conducted between November 4 and November 5, pulled back the curtain on years of alleged violence inside the home.
Rose reports that one child said Robert Christensen beat them with his hand and a baseball bat so hard they “felt like they had to go to the bathroom.”
Court documents say he also used a small bat to hit that four-year-old in the head, which the child described simply as “hurty.”
Another child, a six-year-old, reportedly told investigators that Dishart-Christensen beat them “a lot” with a bat and with her hands, sometimes leaving bruises.
Rose says the father is also accused of punching one child so hard in the stomach that they vomited.
One victim denied anyone hurting her, but Rose notes that court documents say police observed red marks on her neck – and that the child had reportedly told teachers one of her parents choked her the day before.
Another child, a seven-year-old, had a bump and scab on her forehead and allegedly said she “bounced” her head off stuffed animals and the floor to get food, telling investigators her mother didn’t feed her until she did.
An eight-year-old, according to Rose’s article, said one parent didn’t want them to attend their interview and told them, “CYS is coming after us.”
That line makes it clear the parents knew the system was closing in — and that the children understood they were at the center of a fight the adults were trying to manage behind the scenes.
Rose also points back to a 2019 forensic interview, where one child allegedly told the Lancaster County Child Alliance that Christensen beat them with a piece of a car, causing a “blue rash” and a hospital visit.
That same child later denied those claims when re-interviewed in 2025, raising familiar questions about fear, pressure, and how hard it is for abused kids to stay consistent when they know they may go home to their abusers.
Deplorable Conditions Inside the Family Home
After the November interviews, Lancaster County Children and Youth Services obtained emergency custody of all six juveniles on November 5, according to Rose’s reporting.
That same day, police executed a search warrant at the home on West High Street to document conditions and seize the baseball bats allegedly used in the abuse.
What they say they found inside is the kind of scene that makes even seasoned officers stop in their tracks.
Rose writes that the criminal affidavit described the interior as “extremely cluttered,” so much so that it was hard to walk through, dirty, and reeking of ammonia, feces, and urine.
A bedroom with bunk beds allegedly smelled strongly of urine.
Police say the mattresses were airbeds and the room was jammed with trash and personal items.
According to Rose, the only bathroom was filthy, with missing and loose wooden panels exposing subflooring around the tub.
The flooring and tub were “severely discolored,” investigators wrote.
The basement, Rose reports, was described as unnavigable, choked with old appliances, household junk, trash, low-hanging wires and piping.
Officers found five baseball bats that matched what the children had described.
Animals were living in the same squalor.
Rose says officers found a pit bull mix in a rusted metal cage, standing in its own feces and urine that “appeared” not to have been cleaned for an extended period.
Another dog, likely a Border Collie mix, was reportedly found in the attic, its cage covered with boxes, also in its own waste and with no water.
On November 10, Rose reports, Dishart-Christensen surrendered two dogs, five cats, and a rabbit to the Pennsylvania SPCA.
She allegedly admitted she had never taken the animals to a veterinarian and knew they had fleas.
The SPCA found they needed multiple procedures and treatments for illness and infestation.
On November 21, Elizabethtown Borough Codes Enforcement condemned the house as unfit for human occupancy, according to court documents summarized by Rose.
It’s not often you see a single case involving child abuse, animal neglect, and a house so bad that the government literally boards it up – but that’s what investigators say was going on behind this one front door.
CYS Moves In – And The Father Flees With The Kids
The most dramatic moment in Maxine Rose’s report comes right after Children and Youth Services moved to protect the kids.
On November 5, after emergency custody was granted, police say Robert Christensen found out CYS was coming.
Rose reports that, according to court records, Christensen told Dishart-Christensen over the phone, “that isn’t happening.”
He then allegedly loaded the six children into an Oldsmobile and fled.
State police put out a missing persons alert that night, Rose notes, saying the kids’ ages ranged from 4 to 11.
It turned into a multi-county search.
According to Rose’s report, officers finally located Christensen around 10:55 p.m. in Cambria County, 171 miles away, during a traffic stop.
He was taken into custody and, thankfully, all six children were found unharmed in the car.
Police have since said, as Rose reports on CBS 21, that the children are safe.
Both parents were taken to Lancaster County Prison; Dishart-Christensen later posted bail through a bondsman, while Christensen remains held.
The kidnapping piece of this story shows how quickly a child welfare case can escalate when a parent decides to run instead of comply.
It also underlines how fragile that window of safety is – between the moment the state decides to act and the moment a parent decides to bolt.
Long List Of Charges – And Lingering Questions
Maxine Rose lays out an extensive list of charges now facing both parents.
Dishart-Christensen is charged with aggravated assault on a victim under six, six counts of endangering the welfare of children, four counts of simple assault, two counts of cruelty to animals, and six counts of neglect of animals.
Christensen faces even more counts: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault on victims under six, six counts of endangering the welfare of children, four counts of simple assault, two counts of cruelty to animals, six counts of animal neglect, six counts of kidnapping, six counts of interference with custody, six counts of concealing a child’s whereabouts, and six counts of obstructing the administration of law.
Rose reports he is being held on $250,000 bail, unable to post bond, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for December 1.
CBS 21, through Rose, says Lancaster County Children and Youth Services declined to answer questions about any “barriers” that might have prevented earlier intervention, citing confidentiality and policy on individual cases.
That’s standard for CYS – but it leaves the public wondering how many warning signs piled up before the system finally had enough to move.
To be fair, child protection work is incredibly complex.
Caseworkers have to balance parental rights, limited resources, conflicting stories, and the need for solid evidence before they can rip children out of a home.
But when you listen to Maxine Rose read through years of alleged abuse, a child running into an auto parts store begging for help, forensic interviews, and a house condemned as unlivable, it’s hard not to feel like this should have reached a breaking point sooner.
The one bright spot is that those six kids are now out of that environment, and both parents are facing serious charges.
In the end, this story is as much about the bravery of a child and a quick-thinking store employee as it is about police and prosecutors.
A screaming kid ran into a business, a stranger opened the door and called 911, and a local reporter like Maxine Rose made sure the public actually heard what happened inside that house.
If there’s anything good to come from it, it might be this: more neighbors paying attention, more workers willing to step in, and more pressure on systems to move faster when children say they’re living in fear of the people who are supposed to protect them.
UP NEXT: “Heavily Armed” — See Which States Are The Most Strapped
Image Credit: Survival World
Americans have long debated the role of firearms, but one thing is sure — some states are far more armed than others. See where your state ranks in this new report on firearm ownership across the U.S.
The article Kids rescued from “deplorable” home where couple allegedly used baseball bats for abuse first appeared on Survival World.
Gary’s love for adventure and preparedness stems from his background as a former Army medic. Having served in remote locations around the world, he knows the importance of being ready for any situation, whether in the wilderness or urban environments. Gary’s practical medical expertise blends with his passion for outdoor survival, making him an expert in both emergency medical care and rugged, off-the-grid living. He writes to equip readers with the skills needed to stay safe and resilient in any scenario.
