A mother and father in Iowa have been arrested after forcing their 4-year-old developmentally handicapped child to remain inside a “makeshift cage,” according to police.
According to a news statement from Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope, deputies got a call shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday about a little child alone on the road in the 1700 block of Washington Street in Hamburg, which is in southwest Iowa near the Missouri border. When deputies arrived, they allegedly found the toddler “covered in filth and a mixture of both human and animal feces.” They discovered another child in the house and took both to the hospital for evaluation, Aistrope stated.
According to a criminal complaint, Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton, both 26, left their children in the care of grandparents with instructions to keep the four-year-old locked up.
“Deputies located the cage in the home constructed out of a pack and play, a baby gate roof, and zip ties,” Aistrope recounted.
According to deputies, the infant was unable to stand inside the cage, which created a “hazardous condition” and exposed the child to danger. Deputies also reported finding a second cage in a walk-in closet. The toddler allegedly escaped from the cage and left the house without awakening the grandparents.
Perry and Hamilton are charged with neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, a felony, and child endangerment, an aggravated misdemeanor. Deputies transported them to the Fremont County Jail, where they remain without bond. Authorities said other charges are pending in the case.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services came to the scene and took several children, according to Aistrope.