In Pennsylvania, USA, a 6-year-old girl was locked in a dog cage at night by her parents.
Jacob William Way, 37, and Mimi Ann Frost, 33, face multiple charges including aggravated assault, corruption of minors, strangulation and endangering the welfare of children.
The investigation began on Feb. 6 when officers were dispatched to the couple's home after the child was found unconscious, according to Pennsylvania State Police. When they arrived, they found the house in “dire condition” with dog faeces, litter and urine. Footage from inside the home shows a large dog kennel with blankets and trash in the living room.
“Child Tortured”
The child's father called 911 after his six-year-old daughter had a seizure when one of the other children living in the home tried to bathe her. Children told authorities that a 6-year-old boy was being held in a dog cage and beaten with a broom. “She was tortured in that house, for lack of a better way to say it,” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Opel told KDKA.
According to the prosecutor, the father refused to let first responders inside and took the 6-year-old boy outside. The girl's body was covered in open wounds. When he arrived at the hospital, he was diagnosed with hypothermia, Opel added. Of the six children who lived in the home, only the 6-year-old was targeted, authorities said. Of the rest, four are the couple's children and one is a son-in-law.
She was imprisoned naked in a cage without food – she was given dog food
Frost bound the girl's hands and feet with zip ties and refused to wash her, the nephew told police. Another child said the parents wanted the 6-year-old to eat the leftovers.
“A 6-year-old child was living naked in this cage without food. “He will be punished if he can escape that cage and get some food,” the lawyer said, adding that there were indications that “at least some” of the other children participated in the abuse.
Police found 8 dogs and 2 cats in the home, which they described in court documents as a “mad house.” According to the criminal complaint, the girl told a psychologist she was forced to eat dog food every night and sleep in a cage. In addition to the beatings, she said her father shot her in the legs with an air gun.
For many years the girl did not get proper childcare and was not enrolled in school.
