A woman and her boyfriend were arrested after police found an 8-year-old developmentally disabled girl was found locked in a cage in the couple’s home, The Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting.
On Monday, officers in Las Cruces, New Mexico checking on the girl’s welfare found her in the cage the size of a crib, and that she was left in it while the rest of the family went to a movie.
Authorities say 33-year-old Cindy Patriarchias of Las Cruces and 37-year-old Edmond Gonzales remained in custody Tuesday after being arrested Friday evening.
Patriarchias is charged with negligently causing child abuse, and Gonzales with negligently permitting child abuse. Court records indicate they appeared in court Monday but haven’t yet entered pleas. Read more at the The Las Cruces Sun-News.
On January 11, 2013, the father of Christian Choate was sentenced to 80 years in prison after keeping his son in a dog cage. Riley Choate kept Christian in a cage, in a mobile home, and both starved and beat him to death. Christian died at 13-years-old.
In another recent Virginia case, in 2011–also involving a mobile home–a young girl was locked in a cage. She was found eating herself to survive. The malnourished girl, around age 5, was discovered in a crib that was converted into a makeshift cage.
Police found her after they arrived at the home in Gloucester County to investigate a burglar. The bones of another child were also discovered.
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