Cops: Newborn, toddlers left home alone; one locked in "homemade cage"

POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania state police say a father has been arrested after a toddler was found "locked inside a homemade cage," reports CBS affiliate WHP.

A Schuylkill County children's services official responded to the Pottsville home Wednesday for a welfare check, the station reports. No one responded to a knock at the door. The official called the father, Cecil Eugene Kutz, and determined he wasn't at home.

Police then forced entry into the home and discovered three children just inside the front door. A 22-month-old boy was found locked inside the homemade cage that was was "constructed from plywood and lattice [with] a door on it which was locked from the outside," the station reports, citing an arrest affidavit. They also found a one-year-old boy in a playpen and a one-day-old newborn girl in a baby seat.

Police say the children were home alone for about 40 minutes. No baby formula was found in the home and there was no "evidence that the baby was fed at all," the affidavit said.

The affidavit said the children's mother had given birth to the girl on Tuesday night and was taken to a hospital Wednesday morning after suffering "extreme bleeding."

Police say that when Kutz, 37, returned home he was taken into custody. Kutz has been charged with endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment. He was arraigned and taken to Schuylkill County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail.

All three children were then taken into the care of county child services.