Couple accused of keeping child in a cage charged

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - Prosecutors have charged an Albany County couple accused of keeping a 7-year-old child in an outdoor cage.

The Laramie Boomerang reports (https://bit.ly/1yjUJa8 ) 31-year-old Jena Harman - the boy’s mother - and 38-year-old Alexander Smith - Harman’s boyfriend - appeared in court Friday on charges of aggravated child abuse and felonious restraint. They are set for trial March 2.

Harman and Smith were arrested July 24 after sheriff’s deputies responded to a tip that the child was caged outside a home on Fox Creek Road southwest of Laramie.

Deputies say the child told them he had been living in the cage on and off for three weeks, taking meals there and sleeping there overnight even during rainstorms.

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Information from: Laramie Boomerang, https://www.laramieboomerang.com