A couple from Nevada, Jeffery and Misty Scanlan, have confessed to confining their 11-year-old autistic son in a cage-like structure for six years. The case came to light when a truancy officer visited the family’s home after the boy had been absent from school for an extended period.
The Scanlans pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child neglect charge on Wednesday, according to online court records. The case was uncovered on April 23 when the truancy officer, concerned about the boy’s prolonged absence from school, visited the family’s home. Despite hearing a child’s screams and the sound of a gate rattling from inside the house, no one answered the door for approximately 40 minutes.
When Jeffery Scanlan finally opened the door, he informed the officer that his children had been absent from school due to illness. Upon being granted permission to enter the house, the officer discovered a large enclosure with metal bars and locked doors in the living room. Inside the enclosure was a young boy, clad only in a diaper, with feces smeared on the floor and walls.
Misty Scanlan admitted to the police that she had stopped cleaning the enclosure three weeks prior due to being “extremely busy.” Jeffery Scanlan identified the boy as his son, who he said suffers from severe autism spectrum disorder. The couple had three other children in the house at the time. One of the children was hospitalized, while the other two were taken into custody by Child Protective Services and placed with family members.
The officer reported that the house was in a state of extreme disarray and had a strong smell of feces. One of the bedrooms was devoid of furniture, had holes in the walls, and was littered with trash and feces. The room also had an exterior lock that could not be unlocked from the inside.
The Scanlans informed the police that they would lock their daughter, who also has autism and was described as an “escape artist,” in her room at night. They also admitted to duct-taping the top of her shirt to her diaper to prevent her from touching her feces. When questioned about why they hadn’t sought help for their children, the father stated that they didn’t “know where to start” and didn’t “want strangers in [their] house.”
In a statement, Child Protective Services criticized the parents for repeatedly putting their children in potentially dangerous situations and subjecting them to deplorable living conditions that posed a direct threat to their health. The agency also noted that the couple had consistently failed to seek or obtain services to assist with the challenges they faced with their children. The Scanlans are scheduled to be sentenced in March, as per online court records.