Grandparents accused of child neglect after 4-year-old boy allegedly kept in makeshift cage in Iowa

HAMBURG, Iowa -- Two grandparents in Fremont County, Iowa, have been arrested after a child was allegedly kept in a makeshift cage.

Elvin Leroy Culley, 78, and Martha Karen Perry-Culley, 61, are accused of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and child endangerment.

In July, Dustin Perry and Lindsay Hamilton were arrested for child neglect and endangerment charges after the sheriff's office said a 4-year-old boy escaped from a cage.

On July 25, deputies found the 4-year-old in "a mixture of both human and animal feces," inside a residence in Hamburg, Iowa, according to the Fremont County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies allege Perry, 26, and Hamilton, 26, left their kids with relatives with instructions to keep the 4-year-old, who has developmental disabilities, in "a makeshift cage."

The cage, according to the sheriff's office, was made of a pack-and-play and baby gate, held together with zip ties.

Deputies said they found another cage, similar in nature, in a walk-in closet in the Shenandoah home.

Sheriff Kevin Aistrope said this is one of the worst child abuse cases he's ever seen.

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