This is shocking!
A couple in the States have been arrested for allegedly keeping their four adopted children in wooden boxes sealed shut with screws.
Laura Cheatham, 38, and Daryl J. Head, 38, were arrested Tuesday in Missouri and charged with eight counts of child endangerment and kidnapping.
According to Fox News, St. Francois County Sheriff Daniel Bullock revealed that he feared the four children may have been kept in homemade boxes for weeks.
He said the children aged between six and 12, had no access to food, water, restrooms or natural light. He said to reporters that the home reeked of urine.
“I’ve seen some pretty nasty things, but nothing this deplorable.”
The children had been adopted by Cheatham when she was married but she was now separated from her husband and living with Head.
When law enforcement tried to enter the home after reports of child abuse were made to police, Head reportedly would not let them in at first. Police on the scene said they saw Cheatham unscrewing the plywood holding the boxes shut.
The suspects are now in custody and if found guilty could spend decades in prison for child abuse.
The four children are now in the care of in the care of Missouri’s Children’s Division until a new home can be found for them.
