Parents in Iowa Were Arrested After Their Dirty 4-year-old Was Found Outside the House. The Child Had Reportedly Escaped From a Makeshift Cage

Deputies say that two parents in Iowa kept their four-year-old son in a “makeshift cage” and told family members not to let the child out while he was living with them. The parents are now being charged.

Both Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton, who are 26 years old, were charged with child abuse and neglect or abandonment of a dependent. They were taken to the Fremont County Jail without bond and booked in. There will be more charges.

As of 9 a.m. Thursday, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that the two parents were arrested after their four-year-old son with developmental disabilities was found alone outside of a home in Hamburg, Iowa. The boy was covered in filth and a mix of human and animal feces.

Inside the house, another child was found. Both of the kids were taken to a hospital to be checked out.

Both Perry and Hamilton were from Shenandoah, Iowa, and had left their kids with family. They told the four-year-old to stay in the homemade cage.

The cage was made from a pack-and-play, a baby gate top, and zip ties. It was found in the house. Deputies said the child got out of the cage and left the house without waking anyone up.

Someone broke into the parents’ Shenandoah home and found a second, unfinished cage. The child was reportedly kept in a walk-in closet.

Several kids were taken away from their home in Hamburg by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.