Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Parents Kept Teen Boy Covered in Feces in Dog Cage: Sheriff

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Rachelleigh Galasso and Lacy Hocutt Jr. face charges related to the alleged abuse of their six children in Wake County, North Carolina. Hocutt is accused of raping a girl several times over a a period of years. Galasso is accused of abusing the children by neglecting their medical needs and keeping a 13-year-old boy in a dog cage. Prosecutors said the boy was covered in feces. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the case in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can start your claim in just a click without having to leave your couch: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFix Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Dr. Daniel Bober https://www.instagram.com/drdanielbober/CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Two parents, a mom and a dad, their children, and sick allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Some involving a dog cage. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. You know, one of the reasons that we can bring this really disturbing case to you is because we have a great partner. It's Morgan and Morgan for more than 35 years. They've been fighting for the people and have recovered more than $30 billion for their clients. Yes, you heard that right. The proof is in the company's track record with more than a thousand lawyers across 100 offices nationwide. Hiring Morgan and Morgan is like hiring an army to go into battle for you, a team that will fight hard to get their clients the compensation they deserve. Not all law firms are the same. Hire the wrong one and you may be beat before you even start. So if you are ever injured, you can check out Morgan and Morgan and their fee is free unless you win. For more information, you can go to you.

for the people.com slash crime fix, click the link below or scan the QR code that you see right there on your screen. Imagine you are a child and you've never gone to school. You can't write. You can't read. And neither can your five siblings and you have health problems. Prosecutors in North Carolina say a 15 year old and their five siblings were found living in horrific conditions. And now their parents are in jail. Their father is accused of raping one of the children over a number of years. Sheriff's deputies say Rachel Lee Galasso and Lacey Hokut are the parents of six children and they were arrested back on April 1st. The investigation into their parenting of the children actually started back in February. During their initial court appearances, the prosecutor called this one of the worst cases of child neglect and abuse that law enforcement had seen.

Here's just a sample of that hearing from WRAL TV. The sheriff's always went out to the residence where these children had been living and it was so filthy that the investigating officers had to wear protective gear as body suits when they went inside the house. The prosecutor said during Golaso and Hokuts first court appearance that a 13-year-old boy was kept in a dog cage and was covered in feces and was underweight when he was found. The prosecutor said in court that the boy actually rocks back and forth and says, you're never getting out. you're never getting out. And so they assume that is what the parents told the boy. The Charlotte News and Observer obtained an arrest warrant for Rachel Lee Galasso. The website reported that the dental care for two of the children was so bad that they had to have adult teeth pulled and they cannot chew without pain. The News and Observer reported that a teenage daughter's scoliosis was so neglected that it's beyond the point where the child can be treated with surgical intervention and she will have to suffer from. the condition for the rest of her life. So prosecutors say that children have never been to school and that they have serious medical problems. Now, I mentioned earlier that the father of the children, Lacey Hocut, faces three counts of statutory rape of a child younger than 15, along with six

counts of statutory rape of a child by an adult. Those counts involve a child who was between the ages of seven and 12, and the warrant says that Hocud was between the age of 25 and 31. at the time that this sexual abuse took place. But Lacey HoCut has also been charged in the past with harming Rachel Lee Glossow. In November of 2025, Lacey HoCut Jr. was charged with assault of a female, misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, injury to personal property, and communicating threats. The warrant in that case states the assault was a push and shove and inflicted injuries to both hands by grabbing and squeezing.

It goes on to state, using force to show. shove and grab her hands and threatening to shoot her if she called police. And at the time, the defendant was a person who shared a child in common with the victim. That's the domestic violence charge. The warrant for Lacey Hoeket's arrest also says that he damaged Rachel Lee's tablet and cell phone in this instance and placed phone calls to her and threatened her saying, as I mentioned, I will shoot you if you call the police. So as Rachel Lee Galasso faces charges related to the alleged abuse and neglect of her children. Her mom is defending her on Facebook. Gina Maria Palmero wrote, I'm really sick and tired of my daughter being thrown through the mud all over the media.

The accusations are ridiculous. My daughter went to court a few days ago and the charges about her son weren't on her paperwork. The charges of the scoliosis and the dental stuff could easily be fixed. I am so sick of this S word. I got pictures of my. grandchildren, recent ones, happy, smiling, goofing off, my granddaughter, getting her nose pierced and smiling, her going to a school event in a spaghetti-strapped dress, her whole back exposed. Did anyone have anything to say? The school is legally required to report any abuse. There was no suspicions, obviously, because no reports were ever made. Them claiming that my grandson was dog-crated, then why didn't they arrest her the first day?

or take those children the first day, because after that they were in a motel for a week supervised by that social worker who was discriminated against her, and there were plenty of people that witnessed those kids in a victim's abuse center. So if any of them thought those children were neglected or mistreated, they would have reported it. There was a social worker there every day from dusk to dawn pretty much. Then when they went with the search warrant, they're claiming that he was in a dog crate, but yet he was in the care of DSS. So how is that possible? How is it physically possible for a kid who wasn't in her custody to be in the dog cage? Seriously, my grandson is autistic, severely disabled, and the only thing he's ever known is his mother. And they are claiming because

he wants to get out. He wants to get out of where he's at. They're claiming that's because he was in a cage, a disabled child who barely speaks. They seem to think they know what he's saying in his brain. This child, if you knew him, has the mentality of a four-year-old, wears diapers, and that's because he's disabled. Yes, he's skinny. I won't say he isn't, but he has a nutritional issue that he's had since he was a baby, that the doctors were aware of that tried to put weight on him, but it's difficult for him. He had club feet at birth, so it started to affect him recently, and my daughter was going to take care of it as soon as she found a new place. I mean, she was trying to get out of this situation. So that is what Rachel Lee Galasso's mother is saying

on Facebook. She's disputing the allegations being made by sheriff's deputies and prosecutors. So I want to bring in Kristen Helkiotis. She is a former prosecutor, currently a defense attorney in North Carolina. So she knows the law down there very well. Kristen, the allegations in this case are absolutely horrific, absolutely horrific. You know, we have grandma here defending her daughter, Rachel Lee Galasso, fervently, basically saying, you know, there were things here she was going to take care of, probably not a big surprise to you to see mom coming out and defending her daughter and her parenting skills. That's true. And good morning, Annette. Thanks so much for having me on. I'm not surprised at all. Generally, in situations like this, you will see family members try to circle the wagons, close ranks, try to defend their family members. So that part isn't surprising me too much right now.

Talk to me if you would a little bit about the severity of these allegations. What the prosecutors laid out in court sounded really horrific. I mean, children who've never been to school, this is what the claim is. They can't read. They can't write. Some of the kids had adult teeth pulled out. They're in pain when they eat. A 13-year-old boy kept in a dog cage covered in feces, rocking back and forth. I mean, these are some really horrific allegations of neglect and abuse. Incredibly terrible allegations.

And when you look at the warrants to actually see what they're charged with, the father is charged with multiple counts of statutory child rape. And the maximum sentence that he's looking at, maximum potential punishment for those charges for each one is life without the possibility of parole. With respect to the mom, she's looking at multiple counts of child abuse, some different levels of child abuse.

She's got a few counts of our class E felony child abuse, a few counts of the class G felony child abuse. Each class E carries with it the potential of 88 months, up to 88 months in prison. Each class G carries with it up to a potential of up to 47 months in prison. There are ways where the state could actually increase those charges if it turns out that injuries were more severe. There are higher level child abuse charges that are also available if things shake out that way. So she's looking at a fair amount of time as well. They're both being held without bail right now.

For Lacey Hocut, the father, who's charged with these horrific sex crimes involving at least one of the girls, I'm not shocked that he's being held without bail. Are you surprised, though, that Rachel Lee is being held without bail? Obviously, these are very serious charges. But I was expecting to see her, even though they're awful, that the allegations here are awful. I was expecting her to possibly get bail. And, you know, Angenet, that's a great question. Honestly, I'm not surprised at all.

Given the public outcry so far about this case, given the fact that it has been so widely reported in the press, people are incredibly upset about it, you know, and rightfully so. These are horrific allegations. No one wants to be the judge that puts a bond on a defendant and then the defendant, you know, leaves the jurisdiction and runs away. I could imagine she is potentially a flight risk, or at least that's the argument the state made, right? She's a flight risk. She's a danger to the community, all of the above.

And certainly at this point in time, no judge is going to, especially given how new the allegations are, right, no judge is going to want to put their name on giving her a bond at this point in time. And I should note, you know, the law in North Carolina just recently changed as of last October with Irina's law,

that allows for no bond with a bunch of high-level felonies. Used to be in North Carolina. Before that, you could only put no bond holds on people charged with first-degree murder or certain probation violations if they were already, if they got recharged with something else. Interesting. One of the things that is so surprising to me about this case, and maybe it shouldn't be given the allegation here, is that these children can't read and write, which is shocking to me, but we do hear about these cases.

It's really sad. But that this apparently was going on for so long and that we're now just finding out about it or that law enforcement is just now finding out about it. You know, on social media, I see this guy with children and, you know, of course, nobody puts really awful photos on social media of them looking like a bad parent. But if this was so bad, you know, usually the schools are the first line of defense. And grandma is saying that at least one of the girls was going to some type of school function or whatever. So she's kind of disputing whether or not at least one of them was in school. But maybe we'll learn more about that as time goes on. But typically the schools are the first line of defense and they would report if they suspected something was going on.

or if the kids weren't a dangerous situation because they're mandatory reporters. What is your thought on that? And how does somebody have so many kids for so long and not have them in school? It's like they're not ghosts. Sure. And so in North Carolina, the law requires that children between the ages of 7 and 16, they have to. They are mandated and are required to attend school.

Now, if the 15-year-old actually was going to school, maybe that's how the CPS report originated. We don't know at this point in time, but that's a likely possibility for sure. If a child had previously gone to school and then was being held out of school, there are flags in the system for sure that would trigger an investigation or inquiry about,

hey, this kid hasn't been in school in a long time, what's going on? Do we need to contact the authorities? But if someone was never actually enrolled in school, then there would be, no flag in the system because the system wouldn't be aware of that. And so if you have people, a lot of times abusers will withhold children from school or they might homeschool, for example, when I was a child abuse prosecutor, homeschool was always a red flag because, you know,

these are people who are keeping their children outside of the system, if you will, and away from those sort of checks and that first line of defense. Interesting. That's an interesting. That's an point. What's really concerning, well, the whole thing is concerning. I mean, we've got talk about kids with no dental care and having adult teeth taken out and they can't eat, you know, when they're eating, they're in pain according to what the prosecutor was saying. But we've got this 13-year-old boy that the prosecutor said is, you know, kept in a dog cage and is covered in feces. Grandma says on social media that he's autistic and we're, you know, he's. And we're, you know, diapers and he's always had these nutritional issues but I mean I don't care I don't care what the

issue is you don't put a kid in a dog cage and have them sitting in there covered in feces um I mean good God I mean an autistic child rocking back and forth saying you're never getting out of there you're never getting out of there this is what the prosecutor said I'm just thinking to myself house of horrors is what this sounds like so um I mean, God, as a prosecutor, what do you do with this case? I mean, do you deal on this case? Do you just take it to trial? What do you do?

Well, I think first you make sure that you have the complete investigation, whether there are any school records. You want to look at all the school records. You do want to look at any medical records that exist, right? You know, if, for example, the 13-year-old does have some sort of developmental delays and issues, you want to get those medical records, talk to whoever you need to talk. to, you know, is this a witness who's going to be able to testify? You know, because there's all sorts of evidentiary considerations too, of course.

But you're going to want to make sure that law enforcement's investigation was completely thorough. And then you are going to want to sit down and meet with the kids and talk to them and you're evaluating evidence, meaning you're evaluating the strength of your witnesses. You're going to see what their state of mind is like, whether they're willing to testify, whether they're able to testify. Those are all considerations that go into preparing a case and making that decision about what, if anything, are we going to offer in terms of a plea arrangement? Another thing that I found interesting about this case, Kristen, is the fact that Lacey

Ho cut, this is interesting yet very sad. It was charged late last year with misdemeanor domestic violence and and making threats to Rachel Lee, Galasso, and to telling her, if you call the police, I'll shoot you and things of that nature. So it appears that the police at some point, or sheriff's office, believe that she is a victim of domestic violence at his hands. So does that factor into this case potentially as well when looking at Rachel Lee? Sure, it definitely does. And And this is a classic reason why co-defendants have to have different defense attorneys, because they have different interests. And certainly, if I were representing Ms. Galasso, one thing I would be exploring would be, is she a co-defendant or is she actually another victim of his? You know, what restraints did she have?

Not necessarily literal, but maybe figurative. Like was she, you know, being, was there violence being committed against her as well? Because these court documents seem to tell that story that he has been abusing her. And so definitely that's a potential defense line for her. Wow. What's really just awful, though, you know, the whole thing is terrible, all of these allegations. But the allegations of statutory rape involving what appears. to be one of these children, maybe it's more than one. But it seems like it went on for a long time,

according to what the court documents say. Lacey Hokut is accused of raping one of the children who, it appears, could be his daughter, you know, or at least stepdaughter. You know, the exact relationship isn't clear, but she's a family member. Awful. I mean, just really horrific and awful. So, you know, the hope is that she's getting the care that she needs, both emotionally, physically, et cetera. There is a lot that goes into that. Again, you know, for victims to start that healing process, you know, you hope that she's got access at this point to some good therapy. And that's certainly another thing. The prosecutor has to take into account when the prosecutor is determining how this case is going to be

resolved and whether or not a plea offer will be made, you know, is this a witness who's going to want to testify or is that going to be further traumatizing to her? So these are all, all of these things are so interwoven and interconnected when they're dealing with this case. So what's the next step in this case? Because they've had their initial appearance where the judge says, okay, I feel pretty comfortable setting no bond in this case. What's the next step? Because they're back in court later in April. And that may be very well, just a placeholder court date because yesterday's setting, they were appointed public defenders. And so now their lawyers are having a chance to meet them, get up to speed with the evidence thus far. Their attorneys, I will say, are not going to have

access to everything from the very beginning, because in North Carolina, discovery rules don't attach until a case is indicted by the grand jury into superior court. And right now, the case is still in district court, which is where all felonies start or all cases in general, even felonies. And so it won't be until the case gets indicted that the defense attorneys are going to have full unfettered access to all of the evidence that the state has. But for right now, they're going to be talking to their new clients, getting statements from them, meeting with them, having their investigators start working on the case as well and trying to start piecing together what things are going to look like down the road. Well, it's, you know, the allegations here are horrific.

Obviously, that they are innocent until proven guilty as all criminal defendants are, but the allegations are just awful. Kristen, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. My pleasure, Internet. Thank you so much. So right now, Rachel Lee Galasso and Lacey Ho Cut Jr. are being held without bail on the charges that they face. They will be back in court in April this month. So we'll keep an eye on it for you and let you know what happens. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. We'll see you back here next time.