Jul 3, 2008 6:05 pm US/Central
Man Charged With Misdemeanor For Caging Kids
A Midlothian Man Kept His Two Daughters In A Cage In His Pickup Truck
POSEN, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Two young girls were kept in this cage in the back of their father's pickup truck.
CBS
A Midlothian man is accused of keeping his two daughters, ages 3 and 6, caged in a homemade jail inside his pickup truck. CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports that the cries of his daughters led to their rescue.
The jerry-rigged cell in the back of his pickup truck certainly isn't something you see every day. In fact it was a first for the Posen Police Department's Deputy Chief who has been on the force for 22 years.
"My stomach turned," said Deputy Chief Vickie Paggi. "It made me sick."
Paggi said the man who built it, did so to cage his two little girls while he hauled scrap metal.
Officers said tinted windows and plywood likely hid the kids from view, but Monday a woman who was parked near the truck at a gas station heard the children crying.
"And noticed the offender with a child in his lap, and a child behind in the caged area with her hand sticking out," Paggi said.
After the woman called 911, DCFS placed the girls in foster care.
Police arrested Ricardo Gonzales, and charged him with misdemeanor child endangerment.
"What he told the officers was he didn't have a babysitter and he felt it was in his best interest to have the kids locked up so they wouldn't run away," Paggi said.
We tried to contact Gonzalez who is free on bond, but no one came to the door.
At least one of his neighbors said the home didn't sound like a happy one. He heard adults arguing.
When asked if he heard children crying, neighbor Scott Chicoine said, "All the time, in the room up there."
Chicoine's family also called DCFS on a possible child neglect issue. The department confirms it investigated the kids' mother in 2006.
On this case, a DCFS spokesman said "Our hearts go out to these two young girls. We're doing everything we can to provide them with loving care."
Their father, Ricardo Gonzales is charged with a misdemeanor. No felony charges have been approved at this time.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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