Couple is arrested after autistic girl, 10, is found locked inside a wooden CAGE...

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

Couple is arrested after autistic girl, 10, is found locked inside a wooden CAGE lying in her own filth with a surveillance camera trained on her

• Police visited a Tennessee home after tip off a child was being mistreated

• Found an autistic girl, 10, locked in a cage which smelled of urine and feces

• Mickey Sparks and Patricia Laws were charged with aggravated child abuse

• Youngster and three other children were removed from their home

• The couple insisted that child welfare services had approved the use of the cage

• Their lawyers also claimed they had used it to control her behavior for between three and four years

A couple have been arrested after police found a young autistic girl locked in a cage and living in their own filth at their Tennessee home.

Mickey Sparks, 69, and his 43-year-old girlfriend Patricia Laws, have both been charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect over the incident.

Deputies had visited their rural Jonesborough home in Northeast Tennessee after receiving a tip off that the ten-year-old was being mistreated.

Mickey Sparks, 69, (left) and 43-year-old Patricia Laws, (right) have both been charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect over the incident


When they arrived at round 5pm on Monday, they were shocked to find the girl locked inside a wooden cage with nothing but an old mattress for company.

The cage, located in a bedroom, smelled strongly of urine and feces, they reported.

When officers confronted Laws, she said that the girl 'was autistic and they were able to control the child better by locking her up.'

She referred to the cage as a 'safe room' and tried to claim that the Department of Children Services, DCS, had approved it.

They also claimed it had been used for between three and four years.

At that point, Sparks arrived home and backed up Laws, claiming the DCS had visited the home and seen the cage on a number of occasions, Johnson City Press reports.

He added that he had cameras trained on the cage to monitor the girl while she was in the cage.

The police reported that the young girl did not appear to be in distress when they found her.

DCS confirmed that there had been several referrals in the family's history but there had never been a mention of a cage before.

(Laws pictured with four children on Facebook)

The Department of Children's Services responded and rescued the child, and also removed three other kids who were living at the home.

Both Sparks and Laws were charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect and are being held at the Washington County Detention Center pending arraignment.

Laws' Facebook page, where she says she worked for ACT, is full of loving posts about her children.

One such message was posted alongside of a video of a child riding a mechanical bull with the message: 'You have grown so much and I can't express just how much I love you all. I thank god for bleessing(sic) me with such wonderful kids.'

It is not clear whether the autistic ten-year-old child was with her at the time.


Source: Tennessee couple arrested after autistic child found caged | Daily Mail Online

 

[xDominiel]

Brings back memories of the parents I had.. But at least they just locked me in my room and not a cage. Ugh.

 

[OFelixCulpa]

It is possible that the newspaper report is accurate, but in my opinion this article reeks of a reporter twisting the facts to create a sensational story at the expense of a young girl. For example, what the reporter calls a "cage" the parents called a "safe room." Was it really a cage? We don't know, but I very much distrust the reporter.

 

[tree]

Too bad photos of the place where
she was kept aren't shown in
the story.

The deputies say it was wooden,
about 4 feet high, and the size of
a twin bed mattress.

 

[Gary DuBois]

(Not written by me)
Now thats one evil couple and i hope the authoritys come down on them hard.
Couple is arrested after autistic girl, 10, is found locked inside a wooden CAGE lying in her own filth with a surveillance camera trained on her

• Police visited a Tennessee home after tip off a child was being mistreated

• Found an autistic girl, 10, locked in a cage which smelled of urine and feces

• Mickey Sparks and Patricia Laws were charged with aggravated child abuse

• Youngster and three other children were removed from their home

• The couple insisted that child welfare services had approved the use of the cage

• Their lawyers also claimed they had used it to control her behavior for between three and four years

A couple have been arrested after police found a young autistic girl locked in a cage and living in their own filth at their Tennessee home.

Mickey Sparks, 69, and his 43-year-old girlfriend Patricia Laws, have both been charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect over the incident.

Deputies had visited their rural Jonesborough home in Northeast Tennessee after receiving a tip off that the ten-year-old was being mistreated.

Mickey Sparks, 69, (left) and 43-year-old Patricia Laws, (right) have both been charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect over the incident


When they arrived at round 5pm on Monday, they were shocked to find the girl locked inside a wooden cage with nothing but an old mattress for company.

The cage, located in a bedroom, smelled strongly of urine and feces, they reported.

When officers confronted Laws, she said that the girl 'was autistic and they were able to control the child better by locking her up.'

She referred to the cage as a 'safe room' and tried to claim that the Department of Children Services, DCS, had approved it.

They also claimed it had been used for between three and four years.

At that point, Sparks arrived home and backed up Laws, claiming the DCS had visited the home and seen the cage on a number of occasions, Johnson City Press reports.

He added that he had cameras trained on the cage to monitor the girl while she was in the cage.

The police reported that the young girl did not appear to be in distress when they found her.

DCS confirmed that there had been several referrals in the family's history but there had never been a mention of a cage before.

(Laws pictured with four children on Facebook)

The Department of Children's Services responded and rescued the child, and also removed three other kids who were living at the home.

Both Sparks and Laws were charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect and are being held at the Washington County Detention Center pending arraignment.

Laws' Facebook page, where she says she worked for ACT, is full of loving posts about her children.

One such message was posted alongside of a video of a child riding a mechanical bull with the message: 'You have grown so much and I can't express just how much I love you all. I thank god for bleessing(sic) me with such wonderful kids.'

It is not clear whether the autistic ten-year-old child was with her at the time.


Source: Tennessee couple arrested after autistic child found caged | Daily Mail Online

 

[AGXStarseed]

It is possible that the newspaper report is accurate, but in my opinion this article reeks of a reporter twisting the facts to create a sensational story at the expense of a young girl. For example, what the reporter calls a "cage" the parents called a "safe room." Was it really a cage? We don't know, but I very much distrust the reporter.

While I've not seen a picture of the 'cage', here's some other websites with the story - including with video:

Two arrested after autistic child found locked in cage
Deputies: Autistic girl, 10, locked in cage inside Jonesborough home
Update: Jonesborough pair claimed DCS approved cage for autistic child
Sheriff: Autistic girl was caged; Child abuse charges filed
Sheriff: 2 arrested after autistic child found in cage in Jonesborough

 

[Gary DuBois]

While I've not seen a picture of the 'cage', here's some other websites with the story - including with video:

Two arrested after autistic child found locked in cage
Deputies: Autistic girl, 10, locked in cage inside Jonesborough home
Update: Jonesborough pair claimed DCS approved cage for autistic child
Sheriff: Autistic girl was caged; Child abuse charges filed
Sheriff: 2 arrested after autistic child found in cage in Jonesborough

i wouldn,t want to watch the video because that would be painful to watch

 

[OFelixCulpa]

That does tell something. Apparently the "cage" was 4ft high and had no top. Honest people call that a fence or a partition. When kids build them they call them forts.

I'm not saying the girl wasn't in a terrible situation; just that I believe it would be foolish to form any conclusions based on such skewed reporting.

The girl's life is certainly changing now. I hope it is an improvement for her.

 

[toothless]

actually,this kind of thing seems to be allowed in the UK,over 5 years ago i and staff looked into getting me a specialist bed from a special needs company called kinder key,and we came across a 'cage' bed, the idea is to lock the child up so they cant get out,ive just gone back to the site and they still have it-here it is:
CosySafe Plus | Kinderkey

i honestly dont agree with it or what this older couple have done to the ten year old, there are various other options available to allow the girl dignity and freedom while giving her space to roam.

i was locked in my room at night and often during the day when i was 'challenging' to stop my behavior affecting my family but it made me extremely anxious and i turned my behavior on the bedroom trashing everything,i often just slept on a mattress on the floor as the beds were knackered.
but this is nothing like what this girl has suffered, she needs a much better solution such as shared care/residential care, if they need to have her locked up they clearly cant look after her and manage her behaviors- she would do much better in residential care-they wouldnt lock her up but they would have the significant day and night staff to look after her when she roams the facility which would give her some dignity and independance,i know this from my own personal experience.

i dont think the parents are 'bad' people but they are harming their/his daughter through their lack of ability to look after her.

 

[Uhura]

If they have been using it for 3-4 years, and still need it, doesn't that show it doesn't work and they need to try something else if they want to teach appropriate behaviors?
And it shows it is wrong if it smells that way. Wrong for any child, autistic or not.

 

[Crossbreed]

My (now 22yo) LFA daughter liked to play in one of our portable kennels with her brothers when she was younger (but we never locked it). She would hide in another one during thunderstorms or holiday fireworks. (Again, not locked.)

 

[Uhura]

Not locked is the major difference, along with not smelling or kept clean.

Maybe it was a version of a 'squeeze box'.