East Naples mother defends herself against child neglect charges

EAST NAPLES, Fla. – Loretta Cibirkiene couldn’t believe the news reports surrounding her arrest.

That her home was unkempt. That her three-year-old daughter doesn’t talk.

Cibirkiene, 37, was arrested and charged Monday with neglect of child without great bodily harm after a neighbor found her daughter alone outside her apartment while she shopped at Walmart. She was released from the Collier County jail after posting a $5,000 bond.

“I will take what I did, but just like everything was made worse than it was,” she said.

Collier County deputies described her apartment as filth-ridden, with clothes and toys strewn throughout, a pet bird flying loose inside and feces spotted around the home. Authorities added they were overwhelmed by a foul smell from the refrigerator and that knives and sharp cans were within the child’s reach.

“Why they put that bad information about my house, that it’s a big mess in my house, that I keep a hungry kid and everything is dangerous is in my house,” said Cibirkiene, a Russian native who has lived in the United States for 11 years. “I am remodeling my house, so I moving furniture from one side to other side of house trying to do the best and trying to clean my closets where stuff in buckets or some clothes that are too big or too small for me or for baby. So I put away for donation or some go to garbage.”

Cibirkine showed off a tidy apartment to a WINK News reporter on Wednesday, stating she only removed clothes from a couch and bed and threw away two open cans of soup from her kitchen counter.

A neighbor told emergency dispatchers he found the toddler covered in urine at about 4:45 a.m. Monday. The girl was located at the top of the stairs outside the department.

In an arrest report, investigators said the little girl doesn’t speak and that she can only communicate by pointing her fingers and grunting, which authorities deducted were signs of child neglect.

Cibirkiene said her daughter does talk but is sometimes confused due to her family speaking four languages. She added that the toddler has no problem talking to her or her foster mother.

The little girl is currently in a foster home. Cibirkiene said she will be able to see her on Monday.

“I miss her so much,” she said. “She’s everything for me.”