Police arrested a Nevada couple on Wednesday after finding their 11-year-old child “contained within a large metal enclosure” at their home.
According to a Henderson Police Department statement, officers took Misty Scanlan, 46, and Jeffery Scanlan, 41, into custody and charged them with one count of child abuse and neglect. The arrest occurred after officers arrived at the Scanlan residence at 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday to investigate a truancy report from the school district. According to CBS station KLAS-TV, a school officer came to the home after a youngster went missing from school and heard screams. The truant officer requested additional assistance from the police.
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When police came, it took the father 40 minutes to open the door, according to KLAS, and once inside, officers discovered an 11-year-old child in a big enclosure with metal bars and barred doors, “similar to a jail cell,” according to the report.
According to his father, the youngster with “severe autism spectrum disorder,” who was wearing a diaper and had excrement splattered all over the enclosure, supposedly used the cage to control his outbursts. There were three other youngsters in the house at the time. According to KLAS, one of the children told authorities that the enclosure had been in the house for two years, while the father claimed it had been there for six.
Authorities, as reported by KLAS, found the house devoid of furniture and splattered feces on the walls of other bedrooms. The mother told authorities she tried to clean the bedrooms and cage once a week, but it had been a while.
Child protective services took custody of the remaining three children. KLAS reported the hospitalization of the 11-year-old.
According to online court documents, after being booked into Henderson County Detention Center, the Scanlans were released the next day on $5,000 bail. They have scheduled their court appearance for May.
