POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (AP) - The parents of a 12-year-old southeast Missouri boy are facing charges after the child was found with injuries and living in what police describe as “deplorable conditions.”
Poplar Bluff residents 41-year-old Michael West and his 35-year-old wife, Vanessa, face multiple abuse and neglect charges. They are jailed on $500,000 bond. Their attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Police say the couple kept their son, who has a form of autism, in an empty bedroom with concrete floors and no lighting. Authorities say the home was infested with cockroaches.
Police say the boy had scars and bruising and was taken to a St. Louis hospital for treatment.
The couple told police the injuries were caused by the child’s habit of banging his head on the floor and walls.
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