Boy Found in Dog Cage Inside Philadelphia Home, Police Say

A man and woman were both arrested and charged after a young boy was found naked inside a dog cage in a Philadelphia home while two young girls were found partially clothed in the rain in the backyard, police said.

The ordeal began around 1 p.m. Thursday when Hector Perez noticed two girls, ages 4 and 5, standing in the rain partially clothed in the backyard of his neighbor's home along the 4200 block of Glenview Street.

Léelo en español aquí

"They have pampers on," Perez said. "They have no shirts. They have no pants. They have no shoes. They're screaming. It's raining. It's cold. They're screaming for their mother. Their father." 

Perez called 911 and police officers arrived at the scene to find the two girls. When responding officers went inside the home they also found a naked 6-year-old boy locked inside a dog cage, investigators said. 

An elderly woman in a wheelchair was inside the home as well along with a 40-year-old man who was upstairs. Police said they believe the man is a family member of the children, while the elderly woman is their grandmother or great grandmother. That woman was later taken from the home in an ambulance around 6 p.m. Investigators have not yet revealed the reason why.

Police were also met by another woman who told them she was the mother of at least one of the three children, investigators said. The woman was taken to the Special Victims Unit where she was interviewed by police.

Police said none of the children appeared to have been physically harmed. They were all taken to the hospital for an evaluation. Police also said two other children live at the home though they were at school when the officers arrived.

"We don't know entirely everything that's going on here,” Philadelphia Police Public Information Officer Eric Gripp said. “We have a long investigation ahead of us. But obviously we don't live in a world where under any situation whatsoever we should have a child inside of a cage or young children outside standing in the rain."

Neighbors told NBC10 the boy who was inside the cage has autism though police have not confirmed this.

"This has been an ongoing situation," Perez said. "These kids have mental issues. Everybody in the neighborhood knows about it. Cops have been coming here on and off. Nothing has ever been done." 

Another neighbor, Tom McNamee, said he often saw the children running around unsupervised. He told NBC10 he would've stepped in if he had known what was happening inside the home.

"I would've did a couple things," he said. "It's disgraceful. It's horrible."

On Friday, the mother of the boy, a 30-year-old woman, as well as a 31-year-old man who lived inside the home, were both arrested in connection to the incident. They are both charged with endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering a person. NBC10 is not releasing the full names of the suspects in order to protect the identities of the children.

Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.