Ohio Couple Arrested After Locking Little Girl in Dog Cage as Punishment

A couple from Ohio was arrested by authorities for torturing a 7-year-old girl over a period of seven months in 2019. The couple also padlocked the little girl into a dog cage.

Child abuse

According to Cleveland.com, a grand jury in Canton indicted 30-year-old Derek Mayle and 29-year-old Lillian Cottrell on August 31 on charges of endangering children.

The court records say that the couple did torture and cruelly abuse the child from January 1, 2019, until July 30, 2019. The victim weighed only 28 pounds when she was rescued, prosecutors said.

Stark County assistant prosecuting attorney Dan Petricini said that the child, who is related to Cottrell, had been visiting with another relative for two weeks in the summer of 2019 but refused when it was time to go back home.

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Peticini said that it was during that time when the child said that she did not want to go back to Cottrell's house because she has to sleep in the cage.

The relative who exposed the couple has now gained full custody of the girl. It is also the same relative who called Canton police and Stark County Child Protective Services, according to Canton Repository.

The little girl and her two older brothers were removed from the house, the brothers are with another relative, according to Petricini.

Investigators also said that it does not appear that they were subjected to the types of abuse and torture leveled at the girl. The police said the girl was forced to sleep in the cage as punishment.

Petricini cited the ongoing status of the investigation and did not provide details about the accusations against Mayle and Cottrell, which were part of a secret indictment.

On September 3, a judge set bond for Cottrell and Mayle at $1 million each, and they are scheduled to appear in court on September 11.

Similar incident

In 2007, another couple from Ohio locked up their then 10-year-old son in a small dog cage when he was being punished and while his father used drugs. Authorities also said he sometimes had to wear a shock collar.

The boy's parents were charged with child endangerment and making or selling drugs in front of the boy and his 5-year-old brother, according to NBC News.

The suspects, then 28-year-old Jessica Botzko and then 37-year-old John Westover, were arrested a day after the boys were left alone at home and ran away. They were found on a neighbor's porch.

The 10-year-old boy told police officers that he left because he was tired of being locked up. The cage was less than 2 feet high and 2 feet wide, and it had a chain across the top with two locks on each end.

Carroll said that the boy had to tuck his knees into his chest and he fell asleep in there on a couple of occasions. He was locked up in the cage on occasion for punishment.

According to the court documents, the 10-year-old boy was repeatedly shocked at the family's home through a remote-controlled collar meant as a training device for animals.