Two East Tennessee residents are facing child abuse and neglect charges after authorities found a child with autism locked inside a cage.
According to Washington County Sheriff Ed Graybeal, deputies on Monday night went to the Jonesborough home of Mickey Sparks, 69, and Patricia Laws, 43, after receiving info that a child inside the home was being kept in a cage.
When deputies went into the bedroom they found a locked wooden cage with a mattress and a child inside, Sheriff Graybeal said. He added that the cage smelled of urine and feces.
Investigators determined the child was 10-years-old and had autism.
The Department of Children's Services went to the scene and took the three other children who lived at the home.
Sparks and Laws were both arrested for Aggravated Child Abuse and Neglect. They're being held in the Washington County Detention Center on $50,000 bonds.
They're scheduled for an arraignment on Tuesday.
