ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) - A St. Louis-area husband and wife have been found guilty of child endangerment for putting their autistic son in a makeshift cage.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (https://bit.ly/1HgFL73 ) reports that a jury reached the guilty verdict Friday for 45-year-old Terry Smith and his 44-year-old wife, Victoria. The St. Charles County couple could face up to seven years in prison.
An anonymous call tipped authorities in December 2010, when the boy was 6.
When police, paramedics and a case worker responded, the boy’s grandmother was watching him and five siblings. Authorities say she led them to the basement, where the autistic child was in a 3-foot-by-6-foot crib covered with a plywood top and held together with bungee cords and zip ties.
Investigators said he was naked and sitting in feces and urine.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, https://www.stltoday.com
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