JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. — Deputies asked to make a welfare check discovered a child with autism locked inside a wooden cage, reported WJHL.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office made the welfare check at a home in Jonesborough around 5 p.m. Monday.
Deputies reported that when they entered the bedroom they could smell urine and feces, and the child was on a mattress inside the cage.
The 10-year-old child with autism lived in the home with three other children, according to WJHL. Reporter Curtis McCloud said that there were two sets of twin living in the home, and one was locked in the cage.
Homeowners Mickey Sparks, age 69, and Patricia Laws, age 43, have been arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect. Both are currently behind bars at the Washington County Detention Center on a bond of $50,000 each.
