Nevada Parents Jailed After Boy Found in Improvised “Jail Cell”

According to authorities, a couple from Nevada was arrested when the police were called to their home and discovered that their 11-year-old child was being kept in a large metal enclosure.

Misty Scanlan, who is 46 years old, and Jeffery Scanlan, who is 41 years old, were arrested by the Henderson Police Department. They were charged with one count of child abuse and neglect. This information was provided in a statement by the police department. The arrest happened when the police went to the Scanlan home on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. in response to a report from the school district about truancy. The school officer went to the home because a child was missing from school. They heard screams coming from the house, according to CBS affiliate KLAS-TV. The person responsible for making sure students attend school requested additional assistance from the police.

According to a report by KLAS, the father took 40 minutes to open the door for the police when they arrived. Once inside, the officers discovered an 11-year-old boy in a big enclosure with metal bars and locked doors, which was described as being similar to a jail cell.

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The father told the police that the boy, who had “severe Autism spectrum disorder,” was wearing a diaper and had feces smeared in the enclosure. The cage was supposedly used to manage his outbursts. At the time, there were three more children in the home. According to KLAS, one of the children told the police that the enclosure had been in the house for two years. However, the father claimed that it had been there for six years.

According to a report by KLAS, the police mentioned that there was very little furniture in the home and that there was feces smeared on the walls in some of the bedrooms. The mother told the police that she used to clean the bedrooms and cage every week, but it had been a long time since she last cleaned them.

Child protective services took custody of the three other children. According to KLAS, the 11-year-old was taken to the hospital.

The Scanlans were taken to Henderson County Detention Center and then released the next day on a $5,000 bond, as shown in online court records. Their court appearance is scheduled for May.