A California couple is behind bars after authorities found three children living in a box. San Bernardino County deputies say they found the three children Wednesday living in a large plywood box under a trailer on the couple's property in Joshua Tree.
Officials say the children – aged 11, 13 and 14 – had been forced to live in the box for four years. According to a press release, investigators found "a travel trailer, which appeared to be abandoned, and a large rectangular box made of plywood on the property. The property had no electricity or running water. Several large holes and mounds of trash and human feces were located throughout the property."
In the aftermath, 51-year-old Mona Kirk and 73-year-old Daniel Panico have been taken into custody and charged with willful cruelty to a child. They are both being held on $100,000 bail. The children have been placed in protective custody.
- On a related note…this arrest might remind you about the Turpin siblings, who were found in deplorable conditions inside their Riverside home in January. As it happens, a couple of months has made a world of difference for the group. The most recent information is that seven adult siblings are doing well. Still at Corona Regional Medical Center and learning life skills, playing music and doing crafts. The others are in two separate foster homes, though everyone’s staying in contact via Skype. Their court-appointed attorney says some of the siblings are already dreaming of becoming doctors, nurses, scientists and even investigators. “They’re happy…wanting to move forward, they do not want to dwell on the past and … they want their identity to be now and going forward the things they hope to do, the dreams they have,” says Jack Osborn. “They do not want people to think of them only as a possible victim, but as young adults setting off on their lives. They realize they can set a path for themselves. … That’s something exciting for them.”
Source: ABC News