A Utah man has been accused of child abuse after it was discovered that he had chained his 6-year-old son to a bed. Police in Logan City arrested 28-year-old Sammie Lee Hodges on four charges of child abuse after the child was found chained.
Someone called the police and made an anonymous complaint that the 6-year-old son was regularly chained to his bed when his father was at work. When police went out to investigate, they unfortunately found that the accusations were true. The young boy was shackled using what Logan City Police Chief Gary Jensen described as a chain you would use to tow a vehicle or for logging.
“They found the six-year-old boy in his bedroom,” said Jensen. “He was chained to a kind of metal pedestal, where a box springs and mattress would be put on top of this pedestal, with wheels on it. The chain was around that with a padlock and then chained to his ankle and padlocked.”
Child found chained to bed, police make arrest
This makes me sick. Kids aren't animals. http://t.co/98Xr2cAZQE pic.twitter.com/kvlqM611Nw
— Dallas (@12handicap) June 11, 2014
Hodges (mugshot above) reportedly gave his son a chain long enough to allow him to move around. Police haven’t stated exactly how long the chain that was attached to the bed was, but it was long enough for the child to go to a nearby bathroom. The 6-year-old son was also given food and water before his father left for work. The police chief suspects that the boy had been chained to his bed for up to 10 days–since school let out for the summer–but isn’t positive.
There were other children living in the home, but it isn’t clear whether they were also being abused or if it was just the 6-year-old. According to KUTV, a 10-year-old boy and 8-year-old twin girls were also living in the house. A neighbor told KUTV that the kids would frequently stop by his house and ask for treats and that they didn’t appear to be abused.
Seriously? Chain a six-year-old child to a bed with a heavy chain??? Some people make it really easy for me to dislike humans.
— amacavinta (@amacavinta) June 10, 2014
Hodges is in Cache County Jail for the time being. If he is found guilty on at least one of the misdemeanor Class A child abuse charges, he could face up to one year in jail as well as a $2,500 fine.
Image via Wikimedia Commons