Couple investigated in 3 states facing neglect case in Texas

In a photo taken Sept. 9, 2016, William A. and Claire Rembis stand outside the Texas Tech University Law School in Lubbock, Texas. The couple is trying to regain custody of their 11 children after Texas child welfare officials took custody of them following allegations that include some of the children going into garbage bins to get scraps of food to eat. (AP Photo/Betsy Blaney) (The Associated Press)

This Sept. 9, 2016 photo shows the home where Wiiliam A. and Clair Rembis live with their 11 children in Lubbock, Texas. The couple is trying to regain custody of their children after Texas child welfare officials took custody of them following allegations that include some of the children going into garbage bins to get scraps of food to eat. (AP Photo/Betsy Blaney) (The Associated Press)

LUBBOCK, Texas – The parents of 11 children who were recently placed in state custody in Texas have faced child welfare investigations in at least three states.

Neighbors reported seeing filthy children climbing into trash bins and scavenging for food behind the Lubbock home of William and Claire Rembis, who are accused of neglect.

One investigator suggested during a court hearing that the family may be moving to avoid such investigations, which are difficult to track across state lines.

The couple denies the allegations. They say they move for jobs and that Texas officials are targeting them in part because they have so many children.

The couple hasn't been criminally charged. Court records and testimony show they've previously been investigated in New Jersey, Michigan and in Plano, a Texas city about 300 miles east of Lubbock.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In a story Sept. 17 about a Texas couple facing child neglect accusations, The Associated Press erroneously reported that all 11 of their children were in state custody. Ten of the children were taken into state custody, while their oldest son, who at age 17 is legally allowed in Texas to refuse state custody, declined child welfare services. Fox News reported the Associated Press story on the same webpage as the phrase “Sex Crimes.” That phrase does not appear in the article, and Fox News did not intend to communicate that any of the couple’s children were taken into state custody because of crimes that are sexual in nature.