After their 18-year-old daughter was discovered locked in a cage in the basement, a couple from Kentucky was detained. They claim that she was restrained there because she has fetal alcohol syndrome and sleepwalks. They have been charged with unlawful imprisonment and criminal abuse. Authorities were alerted to check on Tito and Shannon Felix’s family when they received a call from someone inside the house who heard screaming, apparently indicating an emotional disturbance.
When they came home, the stench of animal feces in the house was overpowering. They discovered a huge wooden cage with latches and a combination lock when they went down into the basement. According to news reports, the cage was seven feet long, 43 inches tall and 46 inches wide.
The family of Felix, the cat’s father, was arrested. A tiny children’s toilet with feces and urine in it was locked in place of their daughter. When authorities inquired about the cage, the couple said their daughter is a sleepwalker because she has fetal alcohol syndrome and has been putting them to bed for years. They constructed the cage so that we can get some rest and that their daughter “doesn’t get out and we can get some sleep,” according to police records.
The pair was detained at the scene. The woman’s mother arrived and took custody of her, as did Child Protective Services in assisting with the placement of the other children who resided there.
According to neighboring residents, the pair was a foster family and had adopted children in the past. The teenager appeared to be between 10 and 11 years old.
Many people wrote on the Daily Mail’s coverage of the disturbing abuse allegations, including those who felt their penalty should match their crime, such as: “Instead of arresting them, the cops should have just locked them up in the cage! Prison is too good for them. Too clean and the cages are too spacious. Let them experience the hell that they created for their daughter” and “Let them stay in jail forever.”
Another person said: “So its mom’s fault she is disabled in the first place, THEN she abuses her. When the girl was born with FAS she should have been taken, if you can’t care for your child while they are a part of you, then why would anyone think you would do the right thing once they are born. So tragic.”
Many people stated that the youngster might not be their biological daughter, as one person suggested: “The article says the couple has several foster children. This maybe one of them. How were such people approved as foster parents?” Another added: “If she’s disabled, as they claim, I find their excuse dubious, they’re making that up to try to rationalize locking this kid up.”
“I think the excuses make zero sense,” says another user suffering from sleepwalking. “We have alarms on the doors very simple. When I stay with my dad he puts the house alarm on. Imagine that! And everyone sleeps despite my sleep walking.”
Several people agreed, including one user who stated:: “The explanation the parents offered does not make any sense. If the child/adult sleepwalks and they are concerned she may sleep walk out of the house or something, why not put alarms on the exterior doors or have the child in a bedroom at night and put an alarm on her door so they will know she is sleepwalking?”
