US couple kept autistic kid, 11, in metal cage
A Californian couple have been arrested for allegedly keeping their 11-year-old autistic son in a metal cage designed for an animal, police said on Wednesday.
The boy, who is unable to communicate, has been taken into protective custody with his younger siblings following their parents’ arrest, AFP reported.
Police spokesman Bob Dunn in Anaheim, southeast of Los Angeles, said the cage, which had a mattress inside, was of the type normally used to house a pet.
He said there were “varying reports” of how long the boy had been caged, “from several years to several months to several hours.”
He told local television KTLA: “Perhaps because of some of the outbursts that occurred because of his autism... the family was having difficulty coping with that and controlling that.
“Putting him in that cage may have been a way for them to try to, in their way, control what was going on.”
Vietnamese parents
The Vietnamese parents – who speak English, but not fluently – were detained on suspicion of child endangerment and false imprisonment.
New York Daily News identified the parents as Tracy Trang Le, 35, and Loi Vu, 40.
The boy and his siblings – a boy and a girl, aged 10 and eight – were in good physical condition.
Watch the video of the parents’ arrest here.
Source: AFP, KTLA, YouTube , New York Daily News
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