Las Vegas police rescued young children who were allegedly beaten, starved and put in dog cages by their parents. Travis Doss, 31, and his wife, Amanda Stamper, 33, were both arrested June 11 after Ms Stamper called 911 from a drugstore near Valley View Boulevard and Flamingo Road, reported Las Vegas Review-Journal.
According to court documents obtained by TV station 8NewsNow, one of the older children was beaten so badly by Doss that he thought his 11-year-old son was already dead.
One of the two children inside the cage had eyes that were swollen shut and bruises all over his body, and was suffering from extreme malnourishment, according to Metropolitan Police Department arrest reports.
The couple shared a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with their seven children near Flamingo Road. The police arrested the parents who cared for all the children between the ages of 2 and 11.
In a jailhouse interview with Review-Journal, Mrs Stamper revealed that she was also being abused and that the physical abuse against her and her six stepchildren increased in the weeks before she and Doss were arrested. She claimed that she reported to 911 dispatchers that the children were being abused.
"I was scared for my life and my other kids and my family," she told the media outlet when asked why she didn't call the police sooner.
As per the court documents, Doss disciplined the boy for stealing food from the refrigerator or trash can.
Ms Stamper told the police that Doss would beat his children with a heavy wok, extension cords and belts.
"She said they have, quote, like a million marks on them, a detective testified during the grand jury.
On July 13, Doss was charged with 33 child abuse charges and two kidnapping charges. Ms Stamper was charged with seven counts of child abuse charges, and she was accused of failing to protect the children from substantial bodily harm.
Doss was also charged with sex trafficking and living from the earnings of a prostitute with physical force or threat of physical force, the media outlet reported.
Police found the children inside the dark apartment with multiple dogs. At one point, an officer asks for bolt cutters to open the cage with two of the children inside.
