Two Iowa parents told relatives watching their children to keep their 4-year-old developmentally disabled son in a makeshift cage — and cops later found the boy outside the home covered in human and animal feces, authorities say.
Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton, both 26, were arrested Thursday after the little boy was found covered in filth outside the family’s home in Hamburg, a city just north of Missouri, the Fremont County sheriff’s office said in a press release.
The boy and a second child found in the home were taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, police said.
Perry and Hamilton allegedly left the children in the care of relatives “with the direction to keep the 4-year-old in a makeshift cage,” according to the release.
Two makeshift cages were found inside the home, including one built from a “pack and play, a baby gate roof, and zip ties,” police said.
One of the cages was found inside a walk-in closet, police added.
The horror conditions were uncovered when the 4-year-old escaped his makeshift pen without waking others in the home and got outside and was found by police, officials said.
Perry and Hamilton were arrested and charged with neglect and child endangerment.
Several children were removed from the home by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, according to the release.
The parents are being held in jail without bond while awaiting their first appearance before a judge.
