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A Pennsylvania couple was taken into custody after allegedly keeping their five children locked a in room that authorities say operated like a “dungeon” in their Redstone Township home.
James Russell Kahl and Carly Kahl have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment after Pennsylvania State Police troopers arrived at the home on August 8 and found the couple’s children living in “deplorable conditions,” according to KDKA News.
“It’s sickening, that’s the only word that I can use to describe what we saw and what those children went through,” Trooper Ally Wilson said, according to WTAE.
What did James and Carly Kahl allegedly do?
The investigation began on Aug. 8 when troopers were called to assist the Fayette County Children and Youth Services (CYS) after receiving a tip about the conditions that the children, who ranged in age from 5 to 14, were living in, according to court documents obtained by KDKA News.
When authorities arrived, they found boarded up windows, feces smeared on the bedroom walls, and fleas. There were also no beds inside the residence and only limited food and clothing.
Police learned that the couple’s five children were allegedly being locked in a bedroom with no door handle, and three deadbolts on the outside to secure the door.
“This room functioned as a dungeon with video cameras hardwired to the father’s room,” police said in a statement obtained by WPXI.
When James was confronted about the conditions, he told police and a caseworker that he would “not be removing the locks from the bedroom door for any reason,” according to a criminal complaint.
James and Carly Kahl’s children say their parents tasered one of them
The children, who were immediately removed from the home and placed into the care of CYS after the visit, later told authorities that James smoked marijuana during the day and didn’t want to care for them. The children also alleged that James once made his wife Carly taser one of them as punishment, court records state.
“There’s no reason to be using a device like a stun gun, which is less lethal, not non-lethal, against a child,” District Attorney Mike Aubele told WPXI of the allegations.
During a search of the family’s home earlier this week, police recovered a stun gun, along with a replica pistol, surveillance camera, drugs and drug paraphernalia.
According to Aubele, authorities were alerted to the situation by a “brave family member” who came forward to report the suspected abuse.
“I’m hoping that these parents go to jail and they answer for what they’ve done,” Wilson said after the arrests were announced.
