Two parents from Iowa are facing legal consequences after authorities reported that they confined their four-year-old son in a “makeshift cage” and warned family members to prevent the child from leaving while he was with them.
Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton, aged 26, have been charged with neglect or abandonment of a dependent child and endangerment. They are currently held in the Fremont County Jail without the possibility of bond, with further charges anticipated.
Deputies arrested the couple after discovering their four-year-old son, who has developmental disabilities, unattended around 9 a.m. Thursday morning outside a residence in Hamburg, Iowa. The boy was found in unsanitary conditions, covered in dirt and a combination of human and animal excrement, as per a statement from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office.
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Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton have been charged with neglect or abandonment of a dependent child and endangerment. (Fremont County Sheriff’s Office)
Another child was also discovered within the premises, and both children were taken to a hospital for assessment.
Perry and Hamilton, residents of Shenandoah, Iowa, had placed their children with relatives and instructed them to confine the four-year-old in the makeshift cage.
The cage, which officers located inside the home, was constructed using a pack and play, a baby gate for a roof, and zip ties. Authorities reported that the child was able to break free from the cage and exit the residence unnoticed.
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The parents left their children with relatives, instructing them to keep the four-year-old secured in the makeshift cage. (iStock)
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A second homemade cage was discovered in the parents’ residence in Shenandoah, where it is alleged that the child was confined in a walk-in closet.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has taken several children away from the home in Hamburg.
