SMYRNA — Children living in filthy homes is the unpleasant task that detectives in the Cobb County Crimes Against Children Unit deal with on a weekly basis.

Shannon Lynn Byers, 42, was arrested Friday around 7:30 p.m. on three counts of misdemeanor contributing to the deprivation of a minor. She was released on a $2,500 bond just before 3 p.m. Saturday, according to the jail records.

Sgt. Dana Pierce with Cobb Police said an officer was called to Byers’ rental home in the 2700 block of Gray Road in Smyrna after the landlord did not receive rent from her.

“The officer met with the landlord and went to the carport door and there was one of three children inside who answered the door but would not allow the officer or landlord to come in,” Pierce said. “While talking to the child, the officer convinced him everything was OK and at some point they went in and discovered the filth that had apparently taken over the home.”

The mother was not at home at the time but Pierce said the officer saw open bags of trash, half-eaten food in the kitchen sink, visible dirt on the floor and walls, a backed up toilet with insects throughout the house, no adequate furniture for the children, trash piled in the corners, trash outside in the back yard and a broken air conditioning unit.

Byers was arrested at the scene and the children were taken to the local hospital by ambulance and later put in protective custody.

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“This is just something that detectives in the Cobb County Crimes Against Children Unit deal with weekly,” Pierce said. “As quickly as one discovers something to this magnitude, contact the authorities by dialing 911.”

Once law enforcement is contacted, someone will respond to the scene immediately.

“(The officer will) determine that there is criminal activity that involves children, then they contact our Crimes Against Children Unit and open a case file into the situation,” he said.