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Children kept in Cages in Phoenix

nitrouznitrouz Member Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited August 2003 in General Discussion
Couple Accused of Keeping Twins, 5, Caged

By BETH DeFALCO
Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX A couple were arrested on child abuse charges for allegedly keeping their 5-year-old twin sons locked in filthy makeshift cages for nearly 20 hours a day.

Police found the boys Saturday after an adult older brother told an off-duty officer at a grocery store about the squalid living conditions.

When police arrived at the home they found the children inside two cribs that had been wired together and sealed by plastic crates. Roaches filled the cages, which contained a blanket and small mattress stained with feces and urine.

Louis and Estelvina Rodriguez of Phoenix were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and kidnapping.

The twins, who police said appeared to be healthy and well-fed, were placed in state custody, as was their 8-year-old brother, who neighbors said enjoyed more freedom.

"They were happy to see us and opened their arms wide, reaching out to be held and picked up," police Sgt. Jacqui MacConnell said.

Investigators believe the boys were released from the cages for a few hours a day when their mother returned from work.

Estelvina Rodriguez, 42, told police her 69-year-old husband wanted the active boys in cages because he suffers from health problems and couldn't keep up with them. She said they were trying to control the children, not punish them.

"Mom reported that the kids once got outside the house and were bitten by a dog," Sgt. Randy Force said. "She said they kept the kids in the cage for their own protection."

The couple each were being held on $243,000 bond each.

The boys couldn't speak and aren't yet toilet-trained, police said.

"They can't talk," said Edna White, who has lived next door to the family for 27 years. "When they tried, just noises would come out."

State Child Protective Services officials received one complaint alleging the boys were neglected in 2001, but child-welfare workers visited the home twice and reported the children were outside playing, in good health and good spirits, agency spokeswoman Liz Barker said.



Punishment should be......imprisonment. Put the old folks in a cell until death with the same living conditions as the childrens.

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"He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."
- Jesus Christ in Luke 22:36

Comments

  • gunpaqgunpaq Member Posts: 4,607 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I am always amazed that in this day and age of background checks, licensing, and registering, that two people can produce babies whenever and however they wish without regard to the safety and welfare of the children they are bringing into the world and the financial burden imposed upon the taxpayer. There are no laws to regulate or to provide a consequence for irresponsibly producing children.

    I am certainly not supporting more government control but think about it.

    Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.<BR>
  • TOOLS1TOOLS1 Member Posts: 6,133
    edited November -1
    Suspicion of child abuse???
    TOOLS

    General TOOLS RRG

    Don't go blaming the beer. Hank Hill

    So much Ice, So much Beer. So little time. Shooter4

    I don't have an anger problem. I have an idiot problem. Hank Hill

    When I was a child, I thought as a child. But now that I am grown, I just wish I could act like a child and get away with it.
  • JustCJustC Member Posts: 16,056 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a suspician that they both are in need of a treatment in hydrostatic shock accompanied by a dose of velocitious polycarbonate injections[8]

    why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
    Got Balistics?
  • madmarc0madmarc0 Member Posts: 862 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    What? You mean you cant keep kids in cages anymore?

    Maybe they should put the adults in cages for a while.
    (i've seen this at clubs here in Boston they call them go-go dancers)

    I never wanted kids, that's why I got fixed, maybe they should fix some people, I know this happens all over and it's a shame.

    Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my gun has!
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