Yolanda Nicole Isaac, 37, and Khalil Timbers, 27, were arrested in Upper Darby after the children were found on Tuesday.
Police were tipped off by a 911 call made by one of the children shortly before 9:00 a.m. The caller actually hung up and, when a dispatcher called back, a child answered and claimed to be 16 years old.
Believing otherwise, the dispatcher sent police to the house where they found a 7-year-old boy and 5-year-old twins - a girl and boy - alone in the home on Springton Road.
Police say the house was littered with broken glass, pieces of old food and the bathroom had human feces in the bathtub. The toilet, also filled with excrement, was not working, police say.
"When you look at the living conditions, it's unacceptable and any parent or guardian who raises a child in those conditions in Upper Darby will be arrested if it comes to our attention. Pure and simple," said Superintedent Michael Chitwood of the Upper Darby Police.
When police asked the boy where his parents were, he allegedly told them his mom was at work and the father was at the store.
However, police were there as Issac and Timbers came in. They were arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of children and criminal conspiracy.
The house has been boarded up and the children are now in the care of relatives.
Timbers is a convicted felon already on federal probation whose record includes rape and aggravated assault as a juvenile. Timbers was arrested numerous times as an adult and was convicted of firearm and theft charges.
There was no criminal record for the children's mother. A neighbor says she took good care of the children.
"I just know that she works really hard. She took good care of her children. I don't understand what happened yesterday, that's just a mistake," said Ella Harlan.
Both parents are being held before their court hearing next week.
