Erika Murray boyfriend Raymond Rivera claims he NEVER saw a baby
The man who lived in the basement of a squalid Massachusetts home where the skeletal remains of three babies claims that he was unaware of the 'inhuman' and 'unbelievable' conditions his children were living in because he was not allowed upstairs.
'I was crushed that she would do that,' a trembling and sobbing Raymond Rivera said, following a brief court appearance in Uxbridge District Court Wednesday. 'I never saw the infant at all.'
Rivera, who was the father of at least two of the surviving children removed from the house in Blackstone, has not been charged with neglecting the children or in connection with the infant remains.
Broken man: Raymond River, 37, the boyfriend of Massachusetts 'house of horrors' mother Erika Murray, told reporters Wednesday that he knew nothing about her pregnancies, or the shocking living conditions inside the house
Kept in the dark: A shaken Mr Rivera (left) claimed that he always stayed in the basement because his girlfriend (right) banned him from going upstairs
House of death: Three of Murray's children were found dead inside the Blackstone home in September
Legal trouble: Rivera, pictured here in court Wednesday, has not been charged in the infants' deaths, but he faces three counts of possession of marijuana
Instead, he faces three charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Rivera, 37, did not have a lawyer Wednesday and said he will have to use his retirement money to help pay for one since he quit his job at an office supply store and is living out of his car.
'I'm crumbling. I'm crumbling,' said Rivera, who is also referred to as Ramon Rivera III in some public documents, as he walked away from reporters after a highly emotional interview.
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ShareErika Murray, 31, the children's mother, has pleaded not guilty to fetal death concealment, permitting substantial injury to a child, and child endangerment. She is due in court in January.
The woman’s attorney, Keith Halpern, said last month that she appears to have mental health issues.
The lawyer said the woman told him the dead infants were born starting about eight years ago and at least one was born alive and lived a few days before she found the child dead in a bassinet.
Rivera, who is expected back in court December 17, said Murray worked hard to keep him in the dark about the shocking living conditions upstairs.
Rivera claimed he had no idea that his children were living in deplorable conditions inside the house crawling with vermin
Bio-hazard: Cleanup crews in full hazmat suits and respirators spent several days in September removed piles of garbage from the Blackstone home
No place to raise a child: Mounds of refuse mixed in with old furniture, discarded electronic equipment, empty soda cans and food wrappings were found inside the family home
Shocking clutter: Graphic photos have been released of a house of horrors in Blackstone where three dead babies were discovered
He maintained that Murray told him to 'go in the basement' and 'stay in the basement' and never talked about her pregnancies. 'Nobody outside knows what went on in that house,' Rivera said.
Boston Globe quoted him as saying: 'Ninety nine per cent of my awake time was in the basement.'.
The state Department of Children and Families took custody of four children ranging in age from 5-months old to 13-years-old from the Blackstone home in August.
The two youngest survivors were found covered in their own feces, malnourished and severely neglected. They did not appear to have ever been taken outside the house.
The remains of the three babies, two of them almost entirely skeletal, were found in the home in September.
The dead infants were reportedly dressed in diapers and onesies, and stuffed inside bags hanging in upstairs closets.
The house, which is owned by Rivera's sister, was vermin-infested, with rooms filled with trash, feces smeared on walls, soiled diapers and the remains of several animals. It has since been condemned and demolished.
Razed to the ground: The residence was demolished in October after having been condemned by the town
It took clean-up crews 90 hours spread over four days of work to clear out Murray's house before heavy machinery was brought in to raze it to the ground.
The clean-up and demolition cost the City of Blacktone just under $30,000.
Murray's four surviving kids were rescued August 28 after her 10-year-old son went to a neighbor's home asking for help to quieten the crying baby. The neighbor found the youngest child covered in his own feces.
Neither the baby nor Murray's three-year-old child have birth records and both are severely malnourished. authorities said
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