A 6-year-old boy was found naked inside a dog cage in a Northeast Philadelphia home Thursday afternoon – and two young girls wearing diapers were found wandering outside in the rain, police say.
The parents, Michelle Campbell, 30, and Paul Weber, 31 are now facing criminal charges, police said Friday.
Police were called just before 1 p.m. to the Mayfair home on the 4200 block of Glenview Street after a neighbor found two young sisters outside screaming.
‘They saw two girls, ages 4 and 5, that were partially dressed outside in the rain,’ Eric Gripp, of the Philadelphia Police Department, said.
‘The officers were able to pick them up and gain entry inside of the property and once they got in there, they came upon a 6-year-old boy that was locked inside a dog cage.’
According to CBS, police say the mother of the 6-year-old left him naked with a pillow and blanket while she was out and that the children’s mother would often lock the little boy inside the dog cage when she left the home.
In total, five children were living in the home. Two of them were at school when police arrived.
‘It just boggles my mind they put their kids in cages,’ Hector Perez, a neighbor, said.
Perez saw the little girls outside in the alley and immediately called 9-1-1.
‘They have pampers on, they have no shirts, they have no pants, no shoes, they’re screaming, it’s raining, it’s cold,’ Perez said.
Perez is one of several neighbors who says they’ve seen DHS officials in this home several times.
‘Over the past couple of years they’ve been here I wanna say three, four or five times,’ Perez said.
The Department of Human Services has been to the home before, a neighbor said, the news outlet reported.
‘Due to State confidentiality laws, DHS cannot comment whether or not a family has any current or past DHS involvement,’ the department said in a statement to Action News.
Others said the boy may have autism though police could not confirm at this time, NBC Miami reported.
‘We don’t know entirely everything that’s going on here,’ the police spokesperson said.
The mother is being interviewed by special victims officers. The children were taken to St. Christopher’s Hospital, but appear to be physically OK.
They remain in protective custody. Police are still trying to identify the children’s father as this investigation continues.
