Three kids locked in room with no heat, little food, cops say
HALIFAX, Pa. -- Three emaciated young children were locked inside a room each night with no heat and little food, police and child welfare investigators in Pennsylvania say.
A Halifax Township couple have been charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and related offenses. Joshua and Brandi Weyant are jailed on $1 million bail.
Pennlive.com reports that a doctor who examined the children after they were brought to the hospital in mid-December says two of them were days away from death due to abuse and neglect had they not received medical care. All three of the children were malnourished and underweight, and their skin was covered with urine, feces, animal hair and dirt, the report said.
Police said in an affidavit of probable cause that the children “reeked of a strong odor similar to that of caged animals,” Pennlive.com reported.
Police say Brandi Weyant blamed her husband for the abuse. Court documents say Joshua Weyant denied abusing the children, but said he didn’t want them “overfed.”