A 33-year-old man is behind bars after police found five malnourished children living in squalid conditions at a far northeast Dallas apartment.

John Moton (Dallas County Sheriff's Department)

Officers were called to a home in the 9600 block of Walnut Street, near Audelia Road, around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday after someone reported hearing a baby crying for a long time.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, John Moton yelled, "What do you want?" through the door after officers knocked and turned the doorknob. He then told officers there were five children inside and everything was OK.

When Moton did open the door, officers could tell in just three seconds that the apartment was filthy and reeked of feces, the affidavit says. They could see four children, but when Moton was asked about the fifth, he came outside and shut the door behind him.

Police said Moton would not identify himself or any of the children, and he went in and out of the apartment several times. The third time, the affidavit said, he walked out carrying a child.

Moton would not put the child down, officers said, and took an "aggressive stance" while clenching one of his fists. One officer was able to grab his wrist while the other got the child.

The affidavit says Moton continued to ignore the officers' orders and tried to pull away while keeping one hand at his waistband. One of the officers used a stun gun on Moton when he refused to move his hand, and they handcuffed him.

Once inside the apartment, officers reported finding "deplorable" conditions, noting that the stench of feces and rotting food made it difficult to "walk through [the unit] without vomiting." The lights were out, and there was no air conditioning, the affidavit says.

In the living room, officers found three of the children on a couch surrounded by feces. A pit bull was tied up to a fireplace several feet away. The remaining child was in a crib, wearing a soiled diaper.

Officers also reported finding:

feces and rotten food in a downstairs bathroom

rotten food in a bed upstairs

a makeshift playpen in one bedroom closet

blankets, covered in rotten food and insects, arranged as a bed in another closet

rotten food — and no edible food — in the refrigerator

an empty pantry

roaches, flies and gnats throughout the apartment

The children — girls ages 5, 4 and 3 and boys ages 2 and 1 — were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

Moton was arrested on five counts of abandoning or endangering a child — criminal negligence, one count of resisting arrest and one count of failing to identify as a fugitive. He also has an outstanding speeding warrant out of Benbrook.

He remained in the Dallas County Jail on Saturday, with bail set at $9,750.