HAMBURG, Iowa (TCN) — A couple faces charges after their young child with developmental disabilities was found covered in waste by a roadside last week.
According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, on the morning of July 25, deputies responded to a report of young child wandering alone. Authorities found the 4-year-old “covered in filth and a mixture of both human and animal feces” outside a home.
Inside the residence, officials located another juvenile, and both children were transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Further investigation revealed the children’s parents, Dustin Perry and Lindsey Hamilton, both 26, allegedly had their family members care for their kids “with the direction to keep the 4-year-old in a makeshift cage.”
According to the sheriff’s office, the cage was made out of a Pack ‘n Play, baby gate roof, and zip ties. The child allegedly escaped the contraption while everyone in the home was sleeping. Deputies located a second homemade cage, where they believe “the child was kept in a walk-in closet.”
Perry and Hamilton each face charges of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and child endangerment. Officials arrested the parents and booked them into the Fremont County Jail without bond. Further charges are pending.
The sheriff’s office said the Department of Human Services removed several other children from the residence.