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AFFIDAVIT OF SANDRA LABOMBARD

1. My name is Sandra LaBombard and my address 116 Mohawk Forest Boulevard. I am submitting this affidavit in support of the motion of Stephen H. Fagan for permanent custody of his children, Rachael and Wendy.

2. I am a neighbor of Barbara (Fagan) Waugh. I live up the street from Barbara, and have lived near her for about one year. Barbara has had custody of Rachael and Wendy during that, period.

3. Out of at least 50 or 60 occasions that I have been in Barbara's apartment, only two or three times did she appear capable to care for her children. Most of the times I have been in her apartment (usually to pick up my children) Barbara has been unconscious on the couch in her living room.

4. I have had very close contact Rachael because Rachael and my daughter are close friends. I have also had considerable contact with Wendy. On many occasions Wendy does not have pants on, and once I even put pants on her myself. I have fed Rachael and Wendy a number of times, and have been told by them that they are hungry. I remember one time when Barbara asked me if I would feed her children, because she was going to Framingham and did not want to buy any groceries. Most of the time Rachel and Wendy are not supervised or attended by their mother.

5. I have observed Barbara frequently in what I consider to be a drunken state. Once my daughter was at Barbara's when Barbara was fixing dinner. Barbara asked my daughter if she would like to eat there. (My daughter is ten years old.) For dinner, Barbara took a piece of raw steak and put it in an ordinary toaster. (My daughter brought it home and showed it to me.) It, naturally, came out of the toaster raw. Rachel was eating it although it was raw and bloody. My daughter asked Rachel how she could eat raw meat, and Rachael replied, "Because I'm hungry." In the meantime, Barbara went back to sleep on the couch. When my daughter left to show me the raw steak, Rachael followed my daughter to the front steps asking her not to leave her.

6. Rachael and Wendy often look like "ragamuffins." They are often dressed inappropriately for the weather, in mismatched clothes and shoes. I have heard other children criticize and comment on their dress, as children will unthinkingly do. Rachael is very sensitive to such comments.

7. I definitely do not permit any of my four children to go into Barbara's apartment for any reason. The children are not supervised at all in my observation in Barbara's apartment. I'm afraid that, when they are hungary, Rachael may try to cook something and one of the children will get hurt, or that one of Barbara's cigarettes may catch something on fire. I welcome Rachael and Wendy to play with my children outside or in my home.

8. Barbara has told me about several accidents that Barbara has had around her apartment. On one occasion, she cut her hand with a knife, requiring stitches. On another occasion, she told me that she had somehow dropped some wax beans and burned her back (?). On one occasion when my daughter was in Barbara's apartment (before I started forbidding it), my daughter fell and cut her lower lip severely. Some time after my daughter fell, Barbara called me and told me that she had hurt her lip, that it was all right and that I should not worry. I said that my daughter should come home. immediately. It was not until about an hour later that my daughter came home. Her mouth was bleeding seriously even then, and Barbara had covered it with a soiled piece of doll's clothing. The cut was serious enough to require stitches when I took my daughter to the hospital.

9. On two occasions, I sent Rachael home for supper after playing with my daughter. She came back to my home and told me that her mother was still sleeping and that she couldn't get into her apartment.

10. Barbara is now married to Warren Waugh. Barbara. told me when they first got married that they had an agreement that Warren would come and go as he pleased, and that he would not be expected to be a "father" to Rachael and Wendy. Since their marriage, Warren has been in the neighborhood with Barbara and the children very infrequently.

11. In my opinion, Barbara, particularly when she has been drinking, is incapable to care for Rachael and Wendy, When she is, (in my opinion) drunk she is disoriented and incapable of doing anything. I once pointed out to her that she was smoking as unlighted cigarette, and it then took her several tries to light it. When she is in such a condition, I believe that she is a danger to herself and to the children.

12. I had never met or spoken to Stephen Fagan before Friday, September 14, 1979 when I met him at a neighbor's home. I first met him when he drove to North Adams in response to a telephone call from another neighbor.

Signed under pains and penalties of perjury;