In a disturbing turn of events, a Kentucky couple has been arrested after their 18-year-old daughter was found locked in a cage in the basement. The couple claimed that they resorted to such measures because their daughter suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and sleepwalked. However, their actions have resulted in charges of unlawful imprisonment and criminal abuse.
The authorities were called to conduct a welfare check at the home of Tito and Shannon Felix, and what they discovered was beyond anything they could have expected. As they entered the house, the overwhelming odor of animal feces greeted them. Upon venturing into the basement, they were met with a shocking sight – a large wooden cage with latches and a combination lock. This cage, measuring seven feet long, 43 inches tall, and 46 inches wide, contained the Felix’s daughter. To make matters worse, there was a small children’s toilet inside the cage, filled with feces and urine.
The couple’s defense? They claimed their daughter’s sleepwalking due to fetal alcohol syndrome led them to construct the cage in order to keep her safe and allow themselves some rest. But their explanations did little to justify their actions in the eyes of the law.
The couple was promptly arrested, and the authorities contacted Adult Protective Services to ensure the well-being of the woman trapped in the cage. Child Protective Services also became involved in finding suitable placements for the other children residing in the Felix’s home.
Neighbors unveiled that the couple had served as foster parents and had even gone on to adopt some children. Shockingly, the 18-year-old daughter looked significantly younger, more in line with a 10 or 11-year-old child, raising questions about the care and treatment she had received within her own family.
As news of this horrifying abuse case spread, numerous comments flooded in after the article’s coverage by the Daily Mail. Many readers expressed their belief in an eye-for-an-eye approach, insisting that the couple should experience the same suffering they inflicted upon their daughter: “Instead of arresting them, the cops should have just locked them up in the cage! Prison is too good for them. Too clean and the cages are too spacious. Let them experience the hell that they created for their daughter.” Others advocated for an indefinite period of incarceration: “Let them stay in jail forever.”
One commenter raised an important point about accountability: “So it’s the mom’s fault that the daughter is disabled in the first place, and then she abuses her. When the girl was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, she should have been taken away. If you can’t care for your child while they are a part of you, then why would anyone think you would do the right thing once they are born? So tragic.”
Some readers questioned the couple’s claim that the daughter was their biological child. One individual noted the presence of other foster children in the household and wondered how such people were approved as foster parents: “The article says the couple has several foster children. This may be one of them. How were such people approved as foster parents?” Another commenter doubted the validity of the parents’ excuse, saying: “If she’s disabled, as they claim, I find their excuse dubious. They’re making that up to try to rationalize locking this kid up.”
A reader who also struggles with sleepwalking shared their disbelief in the couple’s explanation, stating that alarms or other precautionary measures could have been implemented instead: “I think the excuses make zero sense. We have alarms on the doors – very simple. When I stay with my dad, he puts the house alarm on. Imagine that! And everyone sleeps, despite my sleepwalking.”
Others echoed this sentiment, with one commenter proposing a more practical solution: “The explanation the parents offered does not make any sense. If the child/adult sleepwalks and they are concerned she may sleepwalk out of the house or something, why not put alarms on the exterior doors or have the child in a bedroom at night and put an alarm on her door so they will know she is sleepwalking?”
It is clear that the actions of the Felix couple have shocked and appalled many. While the legal process takes its course, it is vital that attention is drawn to providing support and protection to individuals with disabilities and ensuring that no one endures such cruel treatment in the future.
