Florida mom accused of keeping child with autism in cage — see the horrific photos
A Florida mom was arrested this week after cops searched her bug-infested home and learned she was keeping a child with autism locked in a makeshift cage, authorities said.
Melissa Doss, 43, told officers she made the cage with wire and wood to prevent her daughter from escaping at night as the girl suffers from severe autism, according to police. Cops found the large cage Sunday while investigating possible child abuse at the family’s Palm Bay home.
A neighbor called police a day earlier to report that an unattended young girl had walked into his screened patio and could not communicate, according to an arrest report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. When officers arrived at the scene, the child was able to show them where she lived and they went there to try to speak to her mother, police said.
The woman did not open the front door and, instead, jumped over a fence and walked around the house to speak with the officers, according to the report. Doss then told them her child had escaped without her knowledge, but she refused to let them go into her home, saying they would probably call the Florida Department of Children and Families if they saw the inside of the house.
Police did exactly that and returned to the house Sunday morning with a DCF official. As they stepped inside, they immediately understood what the suspect meant.
Authorities said the house was filled with trash, debris, spiders, fleas and other bugs, with parts of the ceiling either missing or collapsing and a strong odor of urine and feces throughout the house, according to the Sentinel. They also learned the family of four — Doss and three children whose ages have not been released — didn’t have a single working bathroom, police said.
The suspect was arrested and charged with three counts of child neglect and one count of aggravated child abuse, all felonies, jail records show. She was being held Thursday on $22,500 bond, pending an Aug. 24 court appearance.
The city of Palm Bay is about 70 miles southeast of Orlando.
