LEE COUNTY, Ala. – Three people face multiple charges after a welfare check at an Alabama home revealed makeshift “cages” built around children’s beds, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Human Resources made the disturbing find Monday after making contact with four children – ages 3, 4, 10 and 11 – at a residence in Smiths Station. They later learned that a fifth child, 8 months old, lived at the home but wasn’t there when they arrived.
While inside the home, investigators found two beds inside wooden enclosures complete with bars, hasps and locks. Investigators said there was evidence that the children “had been locked in the cages on multiple occasions.”
All five children are now in the care of the Lee County Department of Human Resources. The nature of the suspects’ relationships to the children wasn’t immediately clear.
Investigators obtained a warrant Thursday and arrested 66-year-old Pamela Deloris Bond, 69-year-old James H. Bond and 30-year-old Kylla Michelle Mann, all of Smith Station.
All three faces two counts of aggravated child abuse and two counts of reckless endangerment. Pamela Bond, who is being held on $123,000 bond, also faces one count of tampering with physical evidence.
James H. Bond and Kylla Mann are both in custody on a $122,000 bond.