6 children, including 13-year-old kept in dog crate, rescued from ‘filthy’ home
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A man and a woman in North Carolina were arrested on child abuse charges after six children, including a child kept in a doghouse, were rescued from a “filthy” home.
According to WRAL, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office identified 34-year-old Lacy Douglas Hocutt Jr. and Rachelleigh Marie Galasso, 33, were taken into custody Wednesday and charged with abuse, neglect and other serious crimes, he said.
The two suspects appeared in court for the first time on Thursday, and prosecutors said the alleged abuse was one of the worst cases they had ever seen.
Prosecutors said the six children, ages 1 to 15, were removed from the home in February and each had serious health problems, WRAL reported.
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34-year-old Lacy Douglas Hocutt Jr. and Rachelleigh Marie Galasso, 33, were charged with abuse, neglect and other serious crimes. (Wake County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutors said many children would need to have their teeth pulled and would not be able to eat without pain.
According to WRAL, court documents show a 13-year-old boy was being kept in a dog kennel.
The child was considered “life-threateningly weak,” according to the documents.
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Six children, ages 1 to 15, were removed from the home, prosecutors said. (Wake County Sheriff’s Office)
“He’s rocking back and forth now and all he’s yelling is, ‘You’re never coming out. You’re never coming out,’ and we can only assume that’s what was being yelled at him while he was there,” the assistant district attorney told a judge in court Thursday, WRAL reported. he said.
Another child’s scoliosis went untreated and “he will have to live with the condition for the rest of his life,” according to the documents.
Prosecutors also described how filthy the house was.
A 13-year-old boy was kept in a kennel and was assessed to be “extremely weak to the point of life-threatening.” (Getty Images)
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“By the time CPS and Wake County got involved and the sheriff’s office went there, the environment was so contaminated that investigators had to wear protective gear,” the assistant district attorney said.
The children were illiterate because they could not go to school.
Hocutt and Galasso are being held without bail and are both expected back in court on April 23.
