Experts fear that children could be more vulnerable to abuse and violence during coronavirus lockdowns.
It’s probably a little too early to say if the current situation will lead to a rise in child abuse, but one case in Dallas highlights the fact that some kids may be at increased risk.
On Sunday night, Dallas police found a 6-year-old boy in a shed behind a house on Coston Drive.
The youngster had been tied up and left alone.
Authorities haven’t released much information about the incident but, according to CBS DFW, the police had asked the boy’s grandmother where the 6-year-old was.
The grandmother told them that the boy was staying at his mom’s house – but when the officers looked closer and went around the grandma’s house, they found a man pointing them in the direction of the shed.
Police threatened to break the door unless the grandmother opened it. She unlocked the door and police found the boy.
According to the grandmother, she had locked the boy inside the shed and tied him – but this was a one-time punishment.
Yet according to the grandma’s boyfriend, who also lives in the house, the abuse has been going on for a long time. The boy was punished because he he was “stealing” food.
The boy told police the alleged abuse started since he “got out of school for this corona thing.”
Neighbors who spoke to local media said they haven’t seen anything unusual or signs of abuse.
“It’s hard to know that this is something that’s happening in your neighborhood and we know about it. It’s hard to devastate,” one neighbor told NBC Dallas.
According to the Texas Child Protective Services, three children, two boys ages 4 and 6 and a 7-year-old girl, were removed from the home earlier in the day and placed in foster care.
One man and a woman are now in jail, according to CBS DFW.
This is so heartbreaking! Praying that precious child is placed in a safe loving home and doesn’t go back to those monsters.
I don’t understand why a family member would want to harm their own flesh and blood. Thankfully these officers did not take NO for an answer. They should be commended because it could have been a different story if they just walked away!
