The North Carolina parents’ kids were taken from their residence in February with health issues and could not read or write
Two North Carolina parents have been charged after allegedly subjecting their kids to extreme sexual and child abuse, including keeping one of their children in a dog kennel.
The arrest came more than a month after investigators first received a “report of alleged sexual abuse, child abuse, and child neglect” on Feb. 20, the WCSO said. The pair’s six children — ages 1 to 15 — were taken from their home in mid-February, WRAL reported.
Each child suffered health issues and could not read or write, as they never received an education, according to the Raleigh news outlet.
Court documents obtained by WRAL provide more details about the parents’ alleged crimes, which prosecutors described as some of the worst they had ever witnessed in the pair’s first court appearance on Thursday, April 2, per the outlet.
Hocutt and Galasso allegedly kept their 13-year-old child in a dog kennel, WRAL reported, citing court documents.
Speaking in court on Thursday, a Wake County assistant district attorney reportedly said, per WRAL, that the child “now rocks back and forth, and all he yells is, ‘You’re never getting out. You’re never getting out,’ which we can only assume is what was screamed at him while he was in there.”
The 13-year-old was also deemed “so grossly underweight that it was life-threatening,” per the outlet. One of the female children has untreated scoliosis, and she “will have to suffer from the condition for the remainder of her life,” per WRAL.
Additional health issues were dental-related, with prosecutors stating that multiple of the children cannot eat without pain and will have to have teeth removed, the outlet reported.
The living conditions at the residence where Hocutt and Galasso’s children lived were so poor that special equipment was required for officials to enter, WRAL reported.
When authorities first “went out” to the parents’ home following reports of alleged abuse, “it was so filthy that investigators had to wear protective gear,” the assistant district attorney said.
Hocutt has been charged with three counts of statutory rape of a child under the age of 15 and six counts of statutory rape of a child by an adult. Galasso has been charged with two counts of negligent child abuse—serious physical injury, as well as two counts of negligent child abuse—serious bodily injury, according to the WCSO.
“Due to the nature of these crimes, no additional information is available,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement to PEOPLE.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.