Couple kept boys in filthy cages,say police

A COUPLE accused of keeping their twin boys locked in filthy makeshift cages for 20 hours a day have been charged with child abuse.

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, were tipped off by an older brother about the squalid living conditions endured by the five-year-olds.

Officers arrived at the home to find the boys locked in two cots that had been wired together and sealed with plastic crates.

Dozens of cockroaches scuttled through the cages, which contained a blanket and small mattress stained with faeces and urine.

The parents, Louis and Etelvina Rodriguez, were arrested and charged with child abuse and kidnapping.

The twins, who police said seemed to be healthy and well-fed, were placed in care, as was their eight-year-old brother, who neighbours said had enjoyed more freedom.

“They were happy to see us and opened their arms wide, reaching out to be held and picked up,” said police spokeswoman Jacqui MacConnell.

Investigators believe the boys were released from the cages for a few hours a day when their mother returned from work.

But they could not speak and are not yet toilet trained, police said. “They can’t talk,” one officer said. “When they tried, just noises would come out.”

Etelvina Rodriguez, 42, said her 69-year-old husband wanted the boys in cages because he suffers from health problems and could not keep up with them.

She said they were trying to control the children, not punish them.

“Mum reported that the kids once got outside the house and were bitten by a dog,” police sergeant Randy Force said. “She said they kept the kids in the cage for their own protection.”

The couple were being held in custody.

Officials had received one complaint in 2001 claiming the boys were neglected, but staff visited the home twice and said the children were outside playing and in good health.