LEWISTON — A Livermore man appeared in court Monday, two days after a neighbor found his 3-year-old daughter wandering along Route 4 naked. The child’s mother fainted at the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, missing her court appearance.

Kerry Joseph Ross, 40, and Courtney Abbott, 32, both of 1695 Federal Road in Livermore face charges of endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful trafficking in scheduled drugs and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to police.

The two were held at Androscoggin County jail in Auburn over the weekend. Ross appeared in 8th District Court on Monday afternoon, where a judge reviewed his bail, keeping it at $10,000 cash.

Abbott was being held without bail on two probation violations out of Cumberland County.

The firearm charge is a felony. For that reason, he didn’t enter pleas to the charges. The Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office is expected to seek a grand jury indictment on that charge.

Judge Charles Dow set conditions on Ross’ release, including no possession or use of alcohol, illegal drugs or dangerous weapons. He can be searched at random for those things. He also must have no conduct with his two children. His next court date was scheduled for January.

A neighbor called the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department midmorning on Saturday after she discovered the couple’s daughter standing by Route 4, which is also Federal Road, with no clothes. Temperatures were reported to be in the 40-degree range. Several people had stopped to assist the neighbor, who said there was no sign of the girl’s parents or supervising adult.

The Rosses’ home was near where the girl was found.

The neighbor wrapped the girl in a blanket and waited for authorities, who called the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. The girl and her 19-month-old brother were evaluated at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center.

Sheriff’s deputies wrote in affidavits that Ross’ father, Wendall, allowed them upstairs in the home, where they discovered the boy in a crib wearing a soiled diaper.

The elder Ross said his son was in Lewiston at a methadone clinic appointment. Abbott was supposed to be looking after the children, Wendall Ross said.

He said he hardly ever goes upstairs because of a bad leg. Deputies found a bedroom at the end of the second-floor hallway where Kerry Ross apparently slept. Next to a bed was a loaded shotgun in the room with the crib, Sgt. James Jacques wrote in his sworn statement. Shotgun shells and bullets were scattered on the top of a bureau, he wrote.

A deputy ejected a live shell from the barrel of the gun. Wendall Ross identified the gun as his and wondered aloud what it was doing upstairs in the bedroom. He said his son sometimes stays upstairs at his house and has primary custody of the children. He sometimes asks Abbott to stay with the kids if he has an appointment, but she was “on the run,” according to the affidavit.

Abbott couldn’t be located right away, but was later found hiding in an attached barn.

Ross’ sister, Gayla, agreed to take custody of the children.

Executing a search warrant, authorities found 32 jars of harvested marijuana in the upstairs bedroom along with a silver case with prescription pills. Assorted knives were scattered about on the floor and shelves within reach of children, Jacques wrote. A steak knife was found stuck in the hallway wall.

White residue was found on a mirror on the bureau.

In one room, a cushion had been set up in the corner and appeared to be the bed of the 3-year-old girl, Jacques wrote. Deputies also found evidence of a marijuana grow operation and packages of cigarettes in there.

Abbott spoke with a deputy after she was read her rights. She said she had gone to the clinic in Lewiston with Ross at 8:45 a.m. Saturday. She had left the boy in his “pack and play” in the upstairs bedroom and her daughter in a highchair, in a back room upstairs.

Kerry Ross refused to submit a DNA sample that was included in the search warrant.

He was charged with obstructing government administration and violation of condition of release in addition to the other three charges.

His defense attorney had asked the judge to reduce bail to $1,000 and allow him to be screened for a supervised release program.

Prosecutors noted Ross’ lengthy criminal history.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com