A Kansas City area couple is accused of locking a 9-year-old girl in the basement, forcing her to go to the bathroom outside and providing little food or water.
The punishment was allegedly the result of being suspended from school and infecting her father’s girlfriend with a rash. Court records say the girl had been sleeping on an air mattress in the dirty, damp basement for several months.
Timothy Phillips and Lacey Chaney are charged with first-degree child endangerment, abuse, neglect and felonious restraint. Police say the girl’s school nurse brought the situation to their attention.
