New Mexico woman and her boyfriend locked up an 8-year-old girl with developmental disabilities in a wooden cage, then left her alone to go see a movie police say.
The Associated Press reports Cindy Patriarchias, 33, and Edmond Gonzales, 37, of Las Cruces, N.M. took her three children to an elementary school to watch the movie Friday according to a police report.
Patriarchias’ estranged husband called police when he discovered the 8-year-old girl was left alone at home.
The AP reports police waited for an hour for the two to return before they could enter the home. Once inside, officers found a big homemade wooden cage in the corner of a bedroom with the girl inside.
A police statement said it had a baby crib’s mattress inside and was 2 1/2 feet wide and about 4 feet tall.
On January 11, 2013, the father of Christian Choate was sentenced to 80 years in prison after keeping his son in a dog cage. Riley Choate kept Christian in a cage, in a mobile home, and both starved and beat him to death. Christian died at 13-years-old.
In another recent Virginia case, in 2011–also involving a mobile home–a young girl was locked in a cage. She was found eating herself to survive. The malnourished girl, around age 5, was discovered in a crib that was converted into a makeshift cage.
Police found her after they arrived at the home in Gloucester County to investigate a burglar. The bones of another child were also discovered.