Anaheim, California – Parents of a young boy, 11 diagnosed with autism were arrested on Tuesday night after it was discovered that the boy may have been living in a cage inside their home.
Loy Vu, 40, and Trang Le, 35, have both been arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and false imprisonment.
Police found a large kennel-style cage with a mattress inside that measured about 6-feet tall and 4 1/2-feet wide.
Anaheim Police Lt. Bob Dunn said:
“It was enough for him to be able to stand up in if, in fact, he was living in that cage,”
Family members told police that the boy cannot communicate and that as he got older his violent outbursts became difficult to control.
The cage was used to control his outbursts. Police told that the boy was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure to ensure that there were no underlying medical condition.
Two younger siblings aged 8 and 10 have been taken into protective custody. Members of the autism community who spoke with NBC4 said they were shocked and saddened by he news.
The original report by Samia Khan and Adrian Arambulo can be read on the NBC4 News website here. More on this story to follow.