LAKE CHARLES, La. -- A Lake Charles woman was charged with 25 counts of cruelty to a juvenile after deputies found her 9-year-old stepson malnourished and tied up in a room, authorities said.
Jaime B. Day, 27, was also charged with two counts of second-degree cruelty. Judge David Ritchie set her bond at $5.5 million.
Her husband, Murry Dalton Day, 30, was charged with five counts of cruelty and one count of second-degree cruelty. His bond was set at $2 million. A warrant for his arrest was issued, and he turned himself in Tuesday.
On Feb. 19, someone called the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office to say that the child was very thin and was being forced to stay in his bedroom, said agency spokeswoman Kim Myers.
Deputy Jason Schnake found the boy tied to a door knob with a dog leash, Myers said. He weighed about 38 pounds and was lying on a foam pallet atop a box spring mattress covered in blood and human excrement, she said. He was reportedly wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a diaper.
The child had bruises on his body and face and a second-degree burn mark on his back, Myers said. He was reportedly in the hospital for 13 days, suffering from hypothermia due to malnutrition.
There were two other children in the home 4 and 6-year-old boys, Myers said.
Doctors examined all three children and determined that the other boys hadn't been abused, Myers said. All three were removed from the home.
Myers said that six years ago, the parental rights of the boy's biological mother were terminated by the state Office of Community Services because of physical abuse. Murry Day was given custody of the boy at the time.
Myers said more arrests are possible.
It wasn't immediately clear if the Days have an attorney.
