Iowa couple accused of locking boy in enclosure for months

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Updated 4:47 pm CDT, Thursday, July 19, 2018

ACKLEY, Iowa (AP) — Police say an Iowa man and his girlfriend tortured the man's 8-year-old son for months by locking him in a basement enclosure, withholding food and making him endure dog bites.

The Hardin County Attorney's Office said Wednesday that kidnapping charges had been filed against 39-year-old Traci Lynn Tyler and 30-year-old Alex Craig Shadlow, both of Ackley.

An arrest affidavit says the abuse occurred between July and September 2017. Investigators allege the boy was locked for at least 9 hours a day in an enclosed 6-foot square space under the basement stairs, where he slept on concrete with no bedding and had no access to a bathroom.

Police say Tyler also urged her dog to attack the boy, which left scars on his back and limbs.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Iowa-couple-accused-of-locking-boy-in-enclosure-13085858.php

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[pnwmom]

1. Here's more. His teachers/school staff saved him by reporting their concerns.

Cases like this test my convictions against the death penalty. Except that would be too easy. Lock them up in private 6 x 6 cells, with concrete floors and no bathroom, and throw away the keys.

https://people.com/crime/boy-allegedly-locked-dungeon-dog-urged-to-attack-him/

The alleged abuse was discovered at the start of the 2017-2018 school year when teachers noticed that the underweight boy was losing hair in patches and would seek food.

“Teachers and school administrators reported that [he] was a quiet boy, a loner, a good student, well-behaved and always hungry,” the complaint states.

The boy told his teachers he was being locked under the basement stairs after school every day, and during an unannounced visit to the boy’s home, a Department of Human Services worker found the enclosure, the complaint alleges.

According to the DHS worker, Shadlow and Tyler admitted to locking the boy up, saying they did so “because of his bad behavior and food-stealing,” the complaint alleges.

[DBoon]

3. if the boy was "home schooled" would anyone know?

nt

[pnwmom]

8. And that is the scariest part. He was in such bad shape because it was the end of a summer at home.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. I bet these 2 vote every year

Where does society fail in cases like these? I can accept they are evil, not very bright, eat a poor diet, like multiple substances, have similar parents or ancestors - but not everyone turns out like them. Can they read and write? Do they have a diploma?

[riversedge]

5. my question is--Where does the utter meaness come from?? To do this to young child?

I can not comprehend this at all.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I think they are angry

at their predicament, their position in life, their mediocrity, angry with each other ... and they displace all that anger on the child. They abuse the child because of the straitjacket they are in.

Or I could be all wet. But losers are angry they aren't movie stars living a luxury life.

[Farmer-Rick]

7. It sounds like mental illness

Probably ate a lot of lead paint when young.

[RhodeIslandOne]

9. They probably don't vote

But I bet they think Trump is great anyway.

[cyclonefence]

4. And for every one of these sickening cases that is reported

how many are there that we'll never know about? How many children have been concealed, tortured, murdered, buried in the back yard? If a child is kept out of school, out of sight, her birth never registered---there are all kinds of ways to keep a child's existence a secret from the world. And if no one knows about her, no one can save her.

[Luciferous]

10. What the hell is wrong with people?!