Siblings removed from home after cage discovered
A HOMEMADE CAGE Kingfisher County Sheriff’s deputies seized from the closet of a trailer home northwest of Kingfisher is suspected to have been used to hold two intellectually disabled brothers, ages 11 and 13, for undetermined periods of time, according to Sheriff Dennis Banther. Jail Administrator Jess Ritchie is standing in front of the cage. (The photo was taken through a reinforced glass window at the jail, which caused some distortion and cross-hatching) [Photo provided.]
Two intellectually disabled brothers, ages 11 and 13, and an older sibling were removed from a mobile home northwest of Kingfisher and placed in emergency Department of Human Services custody based on reports that the two brothers sometimes were kept in a cage in the closet, Kingfisher County Sheriff Dennis Banther said.
A neighbor called the sheriff’s office after allegedly seeing the cage being constructed in the garage of the residence, Banther said.
“Deputies with our office arrived at the location and were able to determine minor children were being detained in a homemade cage for undetermined amounts of time,” Banther told the Times & Free Press Thursday.
“DHS was contacted and the children were removed from their home.”
Deputies returned the next day with a search warrant and removed a homemade woodenand-wire-mesh cage from a closet in the home.
The cage is a little over 5 and a half feet tall, about 30 inches wide and 20 inches deep with wooden sides and wire mesh on the front and back. The front is a hinged, wire mesh door that locks with a hasp, Banther said.
Deputies also removed and collected the door to the closet, which the sheriff said had been modified.
“Trailer houses have a gap at the bottom of [interior] doors to allow for air flow,” he said. “This one had a board attached at the bottom to either darken the closet, dampen noise or both.”
Banther said the children’s caregivers have not been arrested or charged, pending the completion of the sheriff office investigation, which will include forensic interviews of the children.
He said coronavirus-related staffing reductions among specially trained child forensic interviewers are causing some delays in getting the interviews completed.
“This is an ongoing investigation and reports will be turned over to the district attorney’s office once completed,” he said.