Police in Nevada arrested two parents after they were called to their home about a child not going to school. When they arrived, they allegedly found their 11-year-old son locked in a dirty cage.
The Henderson Police Department said in a statement that Misty Scanlan, 46, and Jeffery Scanlan, 41, were arrested on April 23 and put into the Henderson Detention Center on one count of child abuse or neglect each.
The Henderson Police Department said in a statement that at 10:15 a.m. that day, officers went to the 2000 block of Silverton Drive to help the Clark County School District Police Department with a student who was not in school matter.
Someone who was checking on the house earlier said that no one had answered the door, but they “could hear a child screaming and a gate rattling inside,” according to a police report that PEOPLE received.
The arrest statement says that on April 23, police stood outside the Scanlans’ house for about 40 minutes until someone opened the door.
It was said that when Jeffery finally opened the door, he told cops that his kids had missed school because they were sick.
When the police asked Jeffery if they could check on his kids, he said yes.
An 11-year-old boy was found by police inside a large area with locked metal bars and doors that was “similar to a jail cell,” according to the statement.
The statement said that there was poop on the floors and walls of the cage in the living room.
The boy, who Jeffery said was his son, had been diagnosed with “severe Autism spectrum disorder,” the declaration said.
The police say Jeffery told them they kept the boy in the cage—who was only wearing a diaper—because the boy is “big and strong” and “can be very aggressive when he wants something,” according to the statement.
The declaration said the rest of the house was “extremely disorganized and smelled of feces.”
The declaration says that when cops searched the house, they found two bedrooms with little to no furniture and feces on the walls, ceilings, and floors.
When the police came to check on the kids, there were three more kids at home. The statement says that Misty came home from work.
The release said that Child Protective Services went to the scene to help the cops and took other children from the home.
KLAS says that the Scanlans were freed on April 24 after posting a $5,000 bond each. In May, they are set to go to court.
It’s not clear if they have hired lawyers or not.
