Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Boy, 9, Locked in Outdoor Dog Cage For Months in Freezing Temps: NEIGHBORS KNEW

Episode Date: November 14, 2022

A 9-year-old North Carolina boy was reportedly forced to live locked in a dog cage for the last six months. The boy's father, stepmother, and the stepmother's aunt were arrested on child abuse and related charges. The trio is facing a total of 19 felony child abuse indictments. Deputies responded to the family home on October 19 after receiving an anonymous 911 call regarding possible child abuse. The caller reportedly told police that her husband had previously taken food to the victim.  Upon arrival, deputies noticed the boy inside a locked dog kennel wearing no shirt, jeans, and no shoes, even though temperatures were below freezing and frost was on the ground. Deputies found the stepmother inside a bedroom with a 4-year-old under the bed and the 8-month-old still in her arms. She claimed she didn’t know the combination for the cage lock, forcing EMS and deputies to break the cage open. The 9-year-old was taken to the Brenner’s Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, police said, where he received a medical checkup and was released the same day. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Sarah Ford - Legal Director, South Carolina Victim Assistance Network; Former Prosecutor focusing on Crimes Against Women and Children; Facebook: "SCVAN Legal Services Program;" Adjunct Professor, Claflin University & South Carolina State University Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women; Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University; Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital, Voted "My Buckhead's Best Psychiatric Practice of 2022" Robert Farley - Former Detective, Cook County Sheriff's Police Department (Chicago, IL); Deputy - United States Marshal, Commanding Officer, Child Exploitation Unit; Consultant in Crimes Against Children, Farley International Dr. Free N. Hess - Pediatrician/Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Child Safety Expert & Consultant, Founder of PediMom Nicole Partin - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Twitter: @nicolepartin (Naples, FL)  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Locked in a cage. I'm not talking about a wild animal that's getting shipped over from Africa. I'm not talking about a dangerous species like an alligator that just got pulled out of Okefenokee with those long tongs. A baby boy just nine years old, locked in a cage, living outside in these temperatures. How is that happening in America?

How and why is that happening in our great country? What, nobody knew there was a child missing from school? None of the neighbors knew there was a boy nine years old living behind the house in a cage? The cage aspect is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Let's kick it off. WFMY. Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons says this is one of the worst child abuse cases that he has seen in his 37-year career. Deputies arrived to the home on Crest Road just before 7.30 yesterday morning. There they found a nine-year-old child who had been left outside overnight with just the clothes on his back. He was inside a locked dog kennel on the property

as the outside temperature fell to 28 degrees. There were some clothes that was there, just bits and pieces. A little bit of food was inside, but not enough to sustain warmth for this child. Investigators did not say why the child was locked in the outside kennel in the first place. Two other children were located on the property, along with two more who were at school when deputies arrived. I'm not even sure I understand what I just heard. I'm pretty sure I heard they haven't figured out why the little boy was in a cage outdoors in 28 degree weather. Does it really matter why? Does it matter? That's why the state never has to prove motive right there. It doesn't matter why.

It doesn't matter why adults have locked a child in an outdoor cage at 28 degrees outside. I want to make sure I understand what I just heard. Could you please, Jackie, play Daniel Cruz one more time? Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons says this is one of the worst child abuse cases that he has seen in his 37-year career. Deputies arrived to the home on Crest Road just before 7 30 yesterday morning. There they found a nine-year-old child who had been left outside overnight with just the clothes on his back. He was inside a locked dog kennel on the property as the outside temperature fell to 28 degrees. Okay, Nicole Parton joining me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Nicole Parton, you know that my husband and I have been married almost 16 years. It actually seems like maybe two or three years, believe it or not.

Do you know only the second, third time and all the time I've known him, even prior to our marriage. Last night was only the third time I've threatened to divorce him. Note, make that four. One was for losing my cat after I moved to New York. Coco. Okay. Number two. Let's see.

What would that have been? Probably when he said a curse word in front of the children. No, that is not divorce worthy. I just hid his iPad for a week. But last night, this is the fourth one. The cat, the new cat, Cinnamon, took a major poop in the den. He put the cat outside and left the cat outside in 30 degree weather for like five hours. I came in from where I'd been and said, where's Cinnamon? I put her outside. I'm like, when did you put her outside and why? The cat had been outside,

I guess, what was it, Jackie? 36, 37 degrees outside. And yeah, I know she's wearing a fur coat, but still. And he said, well, she could stay in the garage where it's warm with the car. So I'm like, still outside. Anyway, let me just say that unless he wants a divorce, which I doubt because he wants to be with the twins. I don't give myself any credit there. He will not put the cat outside again. That's the cat. Much less a nine-year-old little boy. Nicole Parton, what in the H-E-double-L is going on in Lexington, North Carolina? Absolutely, Nancy.

And all of this when a concerned neighbor catches a glimpse of a little boy locked in this outside kennel with straw, just some straw in the kennel like we put for an animal. Okay, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay. Let me refer to the two guinea pigs that live in the house, Chloe and Spot. Every morning they get their cage cleaned and they get fresh hay and food and water. Sometimes I have the window open, but I close it if it gets chilly in there. At night they have a full on salad, more hay and more water. And this little boy had nothing but, what did you say, straw? That's right, just some straw, like some hay.

That's it. You know, I hardly even know what to say right now. Nicole Parton, what condition do we know the boy was in? Was it true that it was 28 degrees outside? 28 degrees outside, frost on the ground. A nine-year-old boy found locked in a freezing dog kennel outside the home, Lexington, North Carolina, cast out since April, shoeless, sleeping on straw because there was, quote, no room for him in the home where father, stepmother, aunt, and four siblings slept.

There was no room for him. He was the only one that had to sleep out in a locked dog cage with straw without shoes. Am I reading the right thing? That's correct. Absolutely. And the few clothes that he had on, authorities, they were wet. They were damp. So he's out there in wet clothes. Of course, there's no bathroom. There's nowhere to go.

Wet clothes. It's 28 degrees. That, we know, is below freezing. And this young boy is left alone there for seven months. He's locked in the dog kennel. Seven months. Sarah Ford, joining me, legal director of South Carolina Victim Assistance Network. Her specialty is crimes on children. She's professor at Claflin University and South Carolina State University. Sarah, I'm sure you've tried a lot of cases, as have I. Have you ever cried in front of a jury?

I've never cried in front of a jury, but it's taken a whole lot for me not to. I've certainly cried when I've gotten to my office because we see so many horrible, horrible things. But I've certainly gotten emotional in front of a jury, as I'm sure you have as well. Well, I've never cried in front of a jury. I did cry, begin to cry once. It was a bench trial, which means a judge was hearing it. I'll tell you what happened. There was a two-year-old little girl who would be a vegetable in a vegetative state the rest of her life. All she would ever do at that point is lie on her back

in a crib, and that bed will get bigger as she gets older. Again, vegetative state from a horrific beating that her father gave her. During the trial, as you know, Sarah, it's very hard to get medical records because of HIPAA and so many other things. And this was a juvenile victim, which made it even more layers of protection. During the trial, wow, thanks, I finally got the medical documents. During the trial, of course, they could not be admitted because you have to hand over scientific reports such as hospital records far in advance of the trial to the defense counsel. But I had them. They came during the trial, which was no help to me. And I was listening and I was just thumbing, you know, to what was happening.

And I thumbed through and I saw where this little child had no hymen, this two-year-old little girl, which means she was raped. Not only was she beaten into a vegetative state for the rest of her life, she had also, two years old, been raped. How many times? Don't know. And my eyes welled up and I immediately called for a recess and left and went outside and got it together and went back in there. And I gave them so much hell. Not enough though, because they're probably out of jail by now. Long story short, this case, it's very hard for me to keep a straight face

when I hear what happened to this little boy. Okay, Nicole Parton, you just said, actually, would you say it again? He was found locked outdoors in the dog kennel. Nothing there but some straw to lay on. So no pillow, nothing warm and cozy. It's 28 degrees. That's below freezing. The few clothes that he has on are wet. No shoes. And he's been there for seven months. Authorities said he was so cold when they got to him.

He was shivering, uncontrollable, and he was unable to speak to them. He was so cold. Literally, the clothes on him were freezing because it was 28 degrees. Take a listen to Sheriff Richie Simmons out of Davidson County. Approximately 6.56 a.m., we received a call for a welfare check of kids. When we arrived on scene, we made entry into a location that our deputies, we felt like exigent circumstances to go over a fence to go after and look. And we found, actually found a nine-year-old child within a dog lot that was on the premises outside and away from the home. We were able to breach the combination lock and the fence, retrieve this child. The temperature at the time was about 28 degrees.

We found out that this child had been out there all night. All night? What about all night, every night for seven months? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace Joining me, special guest pediatrician at the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Section, child safety expert and consultant, founder of Pedimom.com. That's P-E-D-I-M-O-M.com. Dr. Free N. Hess. Dr. Hess, thank you for being with us.

Explain to me what these conditions would do to a child, 28 degrees, in wet clothing, outside, no food, and this has been going on for seven months. Yeah, so it's extremely dangerous and can actually even lead to death. So just from some of the symptoms that I've read about that this particular child had confusion, difficulty speaking, the shivering. That tells me at least he's in moderate hypothermia. We kind of look at mild, moderate to severe, which then can lead to death. And he's at least there, maybe even more severe without knowing more. And that can happen in those temperatures even fully closed without having a source of heat. So he was not fully

clothed. Plus, he was higher risk because he was a child, probably, and I would assume likely malnourished, being that he hadn't had food out there. All of those things put him at even increased risk. And then being wet, you combine all of this, and had he not been found, this could have ended very, very badly. I'm just trying to figure out what long-term physical and psychological effects this boy will suffer. Guys, take a listen now to our cut LWFMY. When deputies arrived, they say they found the boy wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and no shoes. This was on October 19th when there was frost on the ground around the kennel. His stepmother claimed only the aunt knew the combination to the lock on the kennel and that she and her husband were upset about the boy being kept there. Another disturbing detail, that 911 caller also told dispatchers

they took the child some food in the past. And a neighbor who spoke to detectives on scene told them the boy had been in the kennel since 10.30 p.m. the night before. And he said he brought him a coat and snacks. Okay, let's analyze what we're just hearing. That only one person in the home, out of all the people in the home, had the, quote, combination to the lock. Man, I would tear that kennel down if I had to drive my car over it to get the boy out.

It's just excuses, excuses, excuses. No shoes, frost on the ground and we're seeing the emergence of an evil stepmother claiming that only the aunt knows the combination to the lot on the kennel and that she and her husband were really upset about it but did nothing explain to me nicole parton the neighbors knew this they said that they have been giving him a coat and trying to give him snacks since 10 30 the night before right absolutely so we have actually two different neighbors we have a neighbor who called 9-1-1 anonymously who caught a glimpse of the boy in the kennel and that neighbor's wife says even that neighbor had kind of snuck over there in the past and dropped the boy some food over in the dog kennel

and then we have another neighbor who shows up on his four-wheeler when detectives arrive who also tells his story that, in fact, he knows the boy has been locked up for months. No offense, but what the hell is wrong with these people? A good question. I mean, help me out, Dr. Angie Arnold. They know the boy is there outside locked in a kennel outdoors in cold, wet clothing, 1030 at night. And then we find out the neighbors have known that he's there. They've been giving him snacks for how long? Weeks? I don't know.

And somebody finally calls at 730 in the morning. Could you actually sleep, Dr. Angie, knowing a child child was outside nancy none of us could sleep knowing something like that nancy i couldn't sleep if somebody left their dog outside in the cold and i can't even imagine locking and also you know how everybody's been talking about there was just straw back there and he wasn't dressed very well nancy they didn't put him back there and he wasn't dressed very well. Nancy, they didn't put him back there so that he could be in good shape. They were probably hoping he would die from this and then they could cover that up because he hadn't been to school. He was just going to disappear from the world, this poor little boy. So no, I can't imagine that a neighbor wouldn't say anything. And maybe that's why these people think that they could get away with all of this, with locking their child in a dog house, because they knew that no one was going to say anything.

Or were the neighbors scared of them also? You know, I'm looking at pictures of the little boy all the way back. This little boy, we're not giving his name, pictures of him as a baby in diapies in a dog kennel. And it's the same kind we have when we have to move Fat Boy or Cinnamon. It's for a bigger dog, but it's got a top. It's a full-on cage with a lock on the door. He's in diapers in a dog cage when he looks like he might be, I don't know, 18 months maybe. I mean, Nancy, you almost have to wonder if they were training him to live in a dog cage.

Because that's how you train a dog you put them in a cage guys you're hearing dr angie arnold psychiatrist out of the atlanta jurisdiction at angela arnold md.com um robert farley joining me uh former detective cook county sheriff's police department also with the u.s mars, the commanding officer with the Child Exploitation Unit, Rob Farley. The only silver lining I have to say about this case is that the boy is alive. Because typically, when I get a hold of a case like this to investigate, to try, or to cover, the child is dead. That's the only good kernel of this. What do you think, Farley? I mean, these people need life on life on life. My experience is that I'm amazed they lasted nine years. I mean, if you have pictures of them in the

cage, which I saw, I mean, at 18 months, it's a wonder. I mean, I did child abuse homicides, and it's a wonder he lasted really that long. The one thing that, along with the silver lining with the little guy being so alive is the fact that, boy, I really, you know, got to commend the Davidson County Sheriff's Department. That, you know, they went and did the right thing. It wasn't one of these things. They knocked on the door and you get some excuse and then they leave. I mean, they really, really went there. And you heard the sheriff use the term exigent circumstances, which, as you know, is in an emergency. You know, there's no search warrant or anything. We're going in. We're grabbing the kid and taking the kid out of there. Speaking of exigent circumstances, that term arose from Carroll versus the United States.

That's the name of the case. And that case dates all the way back to moonshining era during prohibition, when people would lug moonshine in the back of their cars in the trunks. The problem is, by the time you got a warrant, you see a caddy going by with a tail scraping the ground. You know there's moonshine in there, but you didn't have a warrant. So a cop finally chased down one of these cars full of moonshine in the trunk, opened the trunk, got the moonshine, but then it was contested and it was actually suppressed. Anyway, the evidence, it was appealed all the way up to

the U.S. Supreme Court. The defendant's name was Carroll, last name Carroll, hence U.S. versus Carroll. And the Supreme Court decided that under exigent circumstances, in other words, you're going to lose the evidence. In this case, the boy could die. You're going to lose the evidence unless you act immediately without a warrant. That's what exigent circumstances means under the law. And Robert Farley is exactly correct. Guys, he's so right about detectives acting. Because who knows if the boy could have even lived one more hour in sub-freezing conditions. Now, this is what they find. Take a listen to our cut three from Fox 8 WGHP.

The first person deputies saw after finding the child was Sarah Starr, who's the child's stepmother. They say she was inside with an infant and a four-year-old inside that home. She told investigators she didn't have the combination to the lock on the dog cage, saying only her aunt, identified as Shelly Barnes, had that. Let me understand what I'm hearing, Nicole Parton. Join me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. So there's other children in the home that apparently are okay. But she says, oh, yeah, he's out there, but I couldn't do anything because I don't have the combination.

What? Right. I mean, call authorities, do anything, get the child out of the cage. Explain to me what i'm hearing yes so that was her excuse to the detectives uh when they went inside again as was pointed out they didn't knock on the door they went inside the home and found her with a child an eight month old child and also interesting they found the four-year-old child hiding under the bed. The four-year-old was hiding under the bed. Stepmom, 40-year-old Sarah says, we don't have the combination. We've really been concerned that the nine-year-old is locked outside, but only my aunt has the

combination. There's nothing that we could do. We didn't know how to get him out. Father is also in the home. 32-year-old Jonathan Starr is there. Same excuse. We couldn't get him out. We didn't know how to get him out father is also in the home 32 year old jonathan star is there same excuse we couldn't get him out we didn't have the combination and so they forced the blame back on the 56 year old aunt shelly barnes who we might add is a convicted felon with a laundry list of offenses against her whoa whoa whoa wait wait, wait, wait, wait. The aunt with a combination is a convicted felon for what? What did she do? She has 34 arrests, I believe it was, including identity fraud, health and safety violations, maintaining a dwelling place for controlled substances.

Oh, she's a jewel. She's the one with the combination. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Sarah Ford, can I just say, number one, they can all rot in hell. Absolutely. Number one, that's the first legal premise. Second is all of them are colluding. They're all responsible.

Every adult in that home is responsible. And for child torture of this manner in North Carolina, I do believe there is at least a 20-year sentence. And that can be compounded. If they wanted to, the state could give them a 20-year sentence if found guilty for every single day this child is in that dog cage for starving the child, for probably beating the child, because you know it all goes hand in hand. Can I ask a legal question from the medical side of the question? Jump in, Dr. Hess. I am wondering what the thought process is about the fact that this particular child on that particular night, with that temperature and in those conditions, could very well have died.

Attempted murder. You know what, Dr. Hess, us lawyers don't like it when we get shown up by doctors. Okay. So sadly, shut your pie hole. Actually, you're completely right. And I have to eat a dirt sandwich. You're right, Dr. Hess. This could be attempted murder, Sarah Ford. I guess I needed an MD to straighten me out. She's right, Sarah. This could be attempted murder. She's absolutely correct. I want them to go down on attempted murder. They absolutely should be charged. I mean, the charges that they have of abuse and neglect, I mean, that's just the bottom of the barrel. It's for child. I mean,

this is absolutely the fact that this child has lived this long in a cage is an absolute miracle. And these, you know, the stepmom, the biological father and the aunt, you know, they're just going back and forth trying to blame each other. But they are all culpable to the max in this and need to be prosecuted. You know, Dr. Hess, I'm investigating you. I think you secretly have a JD as well. time that locking a child in an enclosure such as a cage, a closet, a shower stall, a box, a dog cage, as in this case, has happened. It's a very unique phenomenon and it is a little known aspect of child abuse, the deprivation of movement, the enclosure aspect of this type of child abuse is possibly, next to starving, I think, one of the most awful forms of child abuse. And it's certainly not the first time it's happened. Take a listen to our cut,

12A, our friends at News 12. We begin with that developing story out of Cinema Riches. Disturbing information about the death of an 8-year-old boy released by police just a short time ago. Police now say Michael Valva and his fiancée Angela Polina left Thomas Valva in an unheated garage, unheated and unfinished, overnight in freezing temperatures. They say when he was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, his body temperature

was 76 degrees. As we first told you, police responded to reports that the child fell in the driveway of the home. This was on Bittersweet Lane last week. But investigators say the eight-year-old suffered head and facial injuries inconsistent with those reports a couple also have five other children including two other sons and Polina's three daughters you remember when in old house right yeah this you were well you had two floors right downstairs and upstairs no No, three. Basement. Oh, the basement was there. And the one part of the house, there was also garage, right? Yeah, there was a garage. Did you ever see any heater in the garage? Any what? Like a heater. Was the garage heated or unheated? Nope, just plain old cold. It was cold? Yeah like, so let's say like it was like snow in there, but instead of snow it was just really cold. It's like if you, it's like you're putting up your

whole body in snow. Really? Yeah. And was anybody sleeping in the garage? Thomas and Anthony were. Thomas and Anthony? I think. Was the garage door, you were able to go inside the garage and out, or was the door locked? Sometimes the door was locked. Sometimes it was locked? Yeah, when mom and dad left, Anthony and Tom were alone in the garage. Oh, so when Anthony and Tom were left in the garage, the door was locked? Uh-huh. And was there anything else to sleep on in the garage. Oh, so when Anthony and Tommy were left in the garage, the door was locked? And was there anything else to sleep on in the garage? No, just the floor. Just the floor? And no pillow. And no pillow? And no blanket either. You were hearing little Thomas Nava,

who I might add is autistic. You're hearing his little brother Andrew describe how Thomas would have to stay in the garage night after night after night. There would actually be snow in the garage, sleeping on the cold floor without a pillow or a blanket. In Thomas Valva's case, there was also considerable beatings, starvings, deprivations. Listen to Pixie Levin. My children were basically starved to death. Justina Valva can't bring back her 8-year-old son Thomas, a special needs student with mild autism. But she can demand accountability from the child welfare workers and judges who gave custody of her three sons to ex-husband Michael Valva

and his girlfriend Angela Polina. What do you have to say for yourself? Valva said her 10-year-old son was also forced into Michael Valva's freezing garage. He had frostbite on his hands, on his legs. The East Moricha School District had expressed concern about the two oldest boys in this letter sent in April 2018. They were looking for food on the classroom floor in the garbage. They were coming to school wearing diapers. Did you hear that, Sarah Ford? The school district had, quote, expressed concern because the boys were coming in looking for food on the floor and in the garbage wearing diapers, but they did

nothing. And the mom is threatening to sue DFAX, Department of Family and Children's Services. But wait a minute, she's the mom. What did she do? What did she do to save her boys? And now Thomas Velvet is dead. This little autistic boy having slept in the garage where there's snow every night, forced out there by the bio dad and his girlfriend. I mean, the school expressed concern. That's all. That's all they could do. He wasn't coming to school. When he did come to school, He was looking for food in the garbage. Expressing concern doesn't cut it, Sarah Ford. It doesn't cut it. It doesn't cut it. You know, teachers are mandated reporters, you know, and for mandated reporters. That means that there is a law that teachers, doctors, other professionals have an obligation, a legal obligation to report suspected abuse of children express concern my rear end that's all they did they express concern how do people sleep

at night knowing what these children are living through just like the neighbors in the north carolina case they knew the little boy was outside in a dog cage. And what would they do? Go give him a couple of chips? That's it? Are you serious? That's not the end of the Thomas Valva story. Take a listen to our Cut 19, our friends at WABC.

You're never going to believe this because the father who did this to the boy actually sets up a GoFundMe. Police say Thomas also had facial and head injuries. Michael Valva had told police Thomas had fallen in the driveway and was knocked unconscious. He created a GoFundMe page which raised $14,000 for Thomas' funeral. In it, Michael Valva describes the death of his son as a, quote, tragic accident. But police believe Valva and Paulina routinely left Thomas and his 10-year-old brother in the garage as a form of punishment. So many people involved here that took a part of protecting the abuser instead of protecting my children. Zupko Valva says school staff in the East Moriches

School District had contacted CPS about Thomas and signs of physical abuse. They also noted he and his brother were suffering from food deprivation and were visibly dirty. Food deprivation, visibly dirty, and it happened day after day after day, yet the abusers were protected while the children suffered. There is no case worse than child abuse, child death, child murders. You were hearing about little Thomas Valva being forced to stay in a snowy garage. The enclosure aspect of child abuse is not a new thing. Take a listen to our cut 29 from KEYT. Cynthia Vasquez doesn't just work at

Casa Pacifica Center for Abused and Neglected Kids. She came in one of the worst cases that we've ever seen. It was horrendous what she and her sister went through. Cynthia's a little girl that came to us from a cage. She had lived in an animal cage in a basement for years. Almost five years, in fact, from when she was just five. When she first joined her foster family, all was good. For the first year, it was great. I mean, it was like the dream house. The Christmas was awesome.

I mean, we went to Disneyland like every month. But then everything changed. Everything changed, all right. Take a listen to more. Cynthia's foster mother received thousands of dollars to pay for her care, but... Eventually, it just went out of control. I was put inside a cage, a homemade cage. Made of plywood just five feet by four feet, built in a basement with a wire mesh window.

On the inside there was a bed and there was like a latch so you couldn't like get out. She remembers being kept on the edge of starvation. I was only allowed to eat raw eggs with vegetable oil and it was disgusting. She remembers hot sauce put in her eyes and other forms of torture. She put my hand on the stove and left it like, you know, it was like pushing it down. And that mother was getting thousands of dollars every month to take care of these children. And this child was locked in a cage in a basement for five years, her hand being forced onto a hot stove. What kind of a freak could even do that to Dr.

Angela Arnold, renowned psychiatrist joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction? What kind of mind would put a child's hand on a hot stove or put them in a cage in a basement? Well, Nancy, the worst thing is, and we don't, and we're not going to blame this on mental illness because there's evil i didn't even ask that there's evil without mental illness okay and oftentimes oftentimes the perpetrators of this type of abuse are playing they could be playing out a type of abuse that they've suffered in the past the child could remind them of someone and they're not getting caught and so they're just escalating their abuse that they're playing out through this child but they they could very well be playing out things that are going through their own mind that they may have suffered through this child or they are just completely evil and they get some sort of pleasure out of watching this abuse. Let me understand something.

Robert Farley, joining me, former detective, Cook County Sheriff's Department, expertise, child exploitation. Dr. Angela Arnold, when I ask what kind of, it's my fault. I ask the question. Okay. Rule number one, don't ask the question you don't know the answer to. But see, that's for in court. And the answer I got, Robert Farley, is somehow the parents, the guardian, may be living out something that happened to them through the child. Do I care, Robert Farley?

Do I care why they're doing it? The answer is no. That's a tip to you. The answer is no. Don't care why an adult is mistreating a child this way till they die you know nancy with some of some of the cases that i had with uh arresting people who've killed children and that i just find they're just bullies they're just bad bad bad people as you're talking though about these kids being caged from an investigative point of view what I would be looking for also is evidence of restraints and binding because oftentimes these kids are you mentioned like in the cage bound to a bed so I would look for restraint marks on their wrists I'd look for restraint marks on

their ankles I would look for bruising as a result of the kids being cagged. They're pretty much tortured. I mean, I can think of a fella that, you know, six foot three, 230 pounds, you know, murdering an 18 month old baby was doing body slams with the baby and the stuff you see on the wrestling things on that. I mean, this is a monster. And you know what's interesting about what you just said, Robert Farley? You're absolutely correct. In my mind, in my layperson mind, again, I'm not a shrink, but there's a difference

in losing all impulse control and hitting your kid, which of course is murder one and they can rot in hell, as opposed to a systematic night after night after night, day after day after day, leaving your child, your baby, in a cage, outdoors, in 28 degree temperature. And I don't even know what to call those neighbors who knew it was happening and did nothing.

And here's another example. Take a look at our cut 32. Not just one, but two children in a cage. Neighbors saw the couple living there outside fighting. And a short time later, deputies responding to a 911 call that the woman made showed up at the house after a report of domestic violence and a window being broken out. While the deputies were talking to the male and the female, they heard children inside the house. Once deputies were inside, the discovery was heartbreaking.

The youngest ones appeared to be malnourished and were unclothed. The two older children were locked inside a dog kennel. And in Racine, our cut 34, it happens all over the country. Here's WISN about the same conditions in Racine, Wisconsin. Listen. The Racine County Sheriff says it is one of the most disturbing cases of child abuse he has ever seen. A nine-year-old girl locked in a dog cage. The girl recently told her teacher at school who told authorities.

The sheriff tells 12 News they arrested two caregivers pictured there. They say the girl was forced to stay in the cage for up to 12 hours a day, including at night and on weekends. 23 years of law enforcement. I have yet to see something like this. I needed to see it for myself and I was I was taken back. It was a shock that people actually treat a child like this. It was one of the most disturbing things I've witnessed in law enforcement. Living in a cage, and of course we'll never forget the case of little Adrian, at least I won't. I won't go through all the torture inflicted on him, but in our cut in from KHSB, you see his enclosure was in a locked shower stall. Listen. The abuse began with Adrian standing for hours at a time with his hands in the air, but quickly escalates.

They'd strap him to inversion tables or make him stand outside all night or in the cold holding tiki torches. Why are you doing that? Please just stop it, Jack. I can't even hear it anymore. Okay, you were hearing Adrian's voice before his death. The stepmother would video all of her torture, beaten, starved, locked in a locked shower stall until he died. In this case that we're covering right now out of North Carolina, the silver lining is that the boy lived. I'm going to count on Dr. Hess and Dr. Angie Arnold to describe the lifelong repercussions this will inflict upon him. But just so you know, here's a resolution. Take a listen to our cut seven, our friends at WFNY. If you see something in your neighborhood

involving children, elderly, whatever, say something to us. It wasn't an isolated case this time. This has probably been going on some. The importance we want is for you, the public, to get involved and help us. All three people who are charged in this case made their first court appearance this morning. A judge raised all three of their bonds. The father and stepmother, their bond was increased to $100,000. And the child's aunt, Shelly Barnes, her bond was increased to $300,000.

And she is also facing drug and weapons charges. To Dr. Free and Hess from PDMom.com, what type of long-term ailments will afflict this boy? So it depends on what his core temperature was once he was actually found. You can have some organ damage, but even more peripherally because you end up shunting your blood, meaning try and get your blood more to the core to take care of your important organs. You can get frostbite on fingers, toes, nose, essentially any of your parts of your extremity, which if severe enough can require amputation. Now, I don't know if that was the case with him, but considering what we've already known, if not a possibility already, it definitely could have been had he been left there. And Dr. Angie Arnold, there's more to this case because this North Carolina boy found locked in a freezing dog kennel, seen in a cage as a baby,

he was erased from family photos and sent to, quote, live outside by his father, stepmother, and aunt. Can he ever surmount the emotional and psychological damage ever? I really don't think, you know, Nancy, it's sad, but I don't think that he can. First of all, he may have, as Dr. Hess just said, he may have suffered brain damage from the torture that he was, the torture that was heaped upon him. But Nancy, this is such a, this is such a form of abandonment. So the child hasn't, he stopped his development at some point. He stopped his normal development. He hasn't reached

his normal milestones. He has no attachment to anyone. And then that all has to, you know, when you miss these things, when a child is developing at their core, oftentimes you can't get them back. And this is also so severe. I also wonder, Dr. Angie, how come no one missed him at school? Oh, I wonder that. My children are even late. I get an email at 820 a.m. Your child is tardy. It's not a very nice email either, as it shouldn't be. So what? They didn't even know the child had just quit coming to school. I can't

wait to see whose head is gonna roll. A silver platter is too good for these heads once they're chopped off. So we've got Jonathan Starr, let's name them, the victim's father, 32 years old, Sarah Starr, 40 year old, victim's stepmother, and Shelly Barnes, the evil aunt, age 56. These charges are not enough. This is attempted murder. The tip line, if you have any information or just want to give input like I do, for the Davidson County Sheriff's Office is 336-242-2100. Repeat, 336-242-2100. Sadly, I can't prosecute the neighbors who stood by and let it happen. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend.

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