LAVONIA, Ga. -- A man in Lavonia was arrested on Tuesday after police said he held his wife and four children captive in their mobile home for three years.

Officer Missy Collins with the Lavonia Police Department said Raymond Thurmond forced his wife and four children ages 14,13, 12, and 9, to stay inside their trailer.

"The walls looked like they were moving sometimes. There were so many bugs and roaches on the wall," said Collins. "When the door first opened roaches fell from the ceiling down to the floor. So, I knew then we were in for something."

"There was garbage packed up to the ceiling. The smell was so overwhelming the investigator had to wear a gas mask," said Lavonia police Chief Bruce Carlisle.

Carlisle said the smell was unbearable, even after cleanup crews made their way through the mobile home.

"It was probably the most disgusting scene that I've ever been involved in as far as human waste and filth, and the sad thing about it is you had a wife and four kids who were confined to these four walls and were not permitted to go outside," said Carlisle.

Carlisle said the wife and children were never even allowed to look outside. He said the windows of the trailer were covered with paper and plastic. Carlisle said three of the children had also never set foot in a school. The oldest, a 14-year-old, only completed the second grade, police said.

"It was horrid. I mean horrid," said Collins.

Collins said investigators believe medical attention went ignored for years. She said when officers found the children they were underweight with bones showing. Carlisle said they believe Thurmond kept them on a strict diet, feeding them just enough to stay alive.

"Chicken and chips was pretty much their diet. There was evidence of some other things in there like old pizza boxes. But from what I understand those were his and the kids and her were not allowed to partake," said Carlisle.

Carlisle said they were led to the home by the man's wife, who he believes was pushed over the edge one day and finally went for help.

"From what I understand, he just left and didn't come back and she got word somehow. I don't know what happened, but she got word somehow that he got involved with another lady," said Carlisle.

Collins said the woman's actions were a defining moment that brought light to a dark secret inside the trailer.

"Nobody in this community knew that he had children or a wife. That's what's so strange about this. This family was so afraid of this man that he said they are not to leave and they did not leave," said Collins.

Neighbors told FOX Carolina News that they thought the person who lived next door to them was a normal, single man.

"He was nice," said neighbor Jashaka Jackson. "He was always talking to my son and to my boyfriend. Just being normal like normal people do."

Police said Thurmond also beat his children and on at least one occasion, officers said he raped his wife while the children were forced to watch.

Thurmond is currently being held in the Franklin County Jail awaiting charges that include rape and cruelty to children, police said.