Horror details emerge after nine children found 'locked in cages' in ‘deplorable’ home
A couple from Ohio have been arrested on charges of child endangerment after allegedly forcing their nine children to ‘squat’ against a wall for hours with ‘no good reason at all’.
Jonathan Parr, 37, and Jacqueline Coleman, 32, are being held on a $150,000 bond after Licking County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) officers searched their Etna Township home to ‘discover deplorable living conditions and a bug infestation’, according to the complaint.
Coleman is the mother to the nine children, all under the ages of 13, while Parr is the father to seven.
In total, 12 people between the ages of 1 and 64 years old lived at the home, LSCO said.
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LCSO Captain Jay Cook told WBNS: “Part of the disclosure from the children was the abuse.
“Sometimes it was punishment; sometimes it was for no good reason at all, where they would have to stand with their back against the wall like a wall squat situation.
“It was reported that they would sometimes have to stand there all day.”
When LCSO deputies arrived, they ‘discovered deplorable living conditions and a bug infestation, including inadequate sleeping arrangements and bedding for the juveniles’.
The criminal complaint alleges that Coleman and Parr’s abuse went back as far as April 2023, as the pair ‘unlawfully, did administer corporal punishment or other physical disciplinary measure, or physically restrain the child in a cruel manner or for a prolonged period, which punishment, discipline, or restraint was excessive under the circumstances and created a substantial risk of serious physical harm’.
“The Licking County Sheriff’s Office received a referral involving physical abuse and deplorable living conditions involving 9 juveniles,” the complaint adds.
The referral ‘outlined physical abuse, including failure to provide food and water, insufficient living space, and juveniles being forced to stand for hours with nails between their toes and locked behind cages or barriers’.
As reported by WBNS 10TV, Parr said to the court that 'it's not true. I didn't keep anybody in cages, any of the charges'.
"I love my kids," he added. "I would die for my kids."
Anish Vij