UNNAMED AUTISTIC BOY - 11 yo (6/2014)/ Arrested: Mother & Father, Tracy Trang Lee & Loi Vu - Anaheim, CA

Boy with autism placed in dog kennel in Anaheim; parents arrested


The parents of an 11-year-old boy with autism have been arrested for allegedly keeping him in a cage at their home in Anaheim.
KABC
By John Gregory
Wednesday, July 02, 2014
ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) --
The parents of an 11-year-old boy with autism have been arrested for allegedly keeping him in a large dog kennel at their home in Anaheim.

An anonymous call tipped off authorities to a home on the 1300 block of Garrett Street Tuesday night. Investigators say they found a large cage with a mattress inside.

The child was not inside the cage when police arrived, but investigators say, based on the evidence, they believed that the boy had been kept in there.

Loi Vu, 40, and Tracy Trang Lee, 35, told authorities they were keeping their son inside the cage for his own protection. They said it was to help control his behavior and frequent "outbursts."

"We did develop information here at the home and our preliminary investigation indicates that as the boy has gotten older, his outbursts have turned violent. They've had difficulty controlling him. This may have been their effort to try to control him better," said Lt. Bob Dunn with the Anaheim Police Department.

It's still unclear how long the boy was kept in the cage or how often he was in there. The parents were arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and false imprisonment.

The boy and his siblings, ages 10 and 8, were taken into protective custody. There were no visible signs of injuries to the children.

Neighbors said they were surprised to hear about what was going on in the home.

"They were never loud or abusive. I never heard anything that would indicate to me that there was any trouble in the house whatsoever," said neighbor Bob Emerson.

http://abc7.com/news/boy-w--autism-placed-in-cage;-parents-arrested/151271/

California couple locked 11-year-old autistic son in dog cage to control tantrums: cops

Anaheim police are investigating after finding a mattress in a kennel-style cage the parents allegedly used as a way to restrain their son during his violent outbursts.


BY Meg Wagner

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 10:26 AM


Kevin Warn/AP A crime scene investigator and a detective carry a cage from a home. Police say parents kept their 11-year-old autistic son locked inside. 

Two California parents could face child endangerment charges for putting their 11-year-old autistic son in a dog cage to help calm his violent outbursts, police said.

Anaheim officers found a kennel-style cage at the parents' home Tuesday night after they received a tip about the boy's living conditions, NBC Southern California reported.

The 11-year-old was not in the cage when police arrived, but there was a mattress inside of it, and it looked like someone lived in it, officers said.
 Anaheim Police Department    Anaheim Police Department 


Tracy Trang Le (left) and Loi Vu (right) were booked on suspicion of felony child endangerment and false imprisonment for leaving their autistic son in a cage.

The boy looked nourished and clean but authorities were unsure about any underlying medical conditions.

Police aren't sure how long the child had been kept in the cage — conflicting reports said he lived there for either years or just hours. The parents, identified as Tracy Trang Le, 35, and Loi Vu, 40, are of Vietnamese decent, and language barriers have slowed the investigation, police said.

Anaheim police said they found a mattress inside of a dog kennel in a couple’s California home. Officers believe the parents kept their 11-year-old son inside of it 

The boy's family said he does not communicate well and frequently has violent outbursts. His parents used the kennel as a way to restrain him during those tantrums, they explained.

Both parents were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and false imprisonment.

Police took the boy and his two siblings — an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old — into protective services during the investigation.



http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/calif-couple-locked-autistic-son-dog-cage-cops-article-1.1851973