Ohio parents charged with fencing 4-year-old girl in bed, police say

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Police arrested Jamie M. Curnell (top left) and Russell D. Terry (bottom left) after finding a bunk bed that had a steel mesh fence wrapped around the lower bunk that was designed to restrain a four-year-old girl.

/ AP Photo/Fairfield County Sheriff's Department

(CBS/AP) LANCASTER, Ohio - The parents of a 4-year-old Ohio girl who authorities say was confined at night in a bed wrapped with steel mesh fencing have been charged with kidnapping and child endangerment.

A judge on Thursday set bond at $500,000 each for 34-year-old Russell Terry and 32-year-old Jamie Curnell. Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen said the kidnapping charge involved "unlawful restraint" of the child.

Deputies found the cage-like contraption when they were responding to a domestic violence call from the family's home in central Ohio, Phalen said Thursday. The steel wire surrounded the lower bunk bed where the girl slept, and a door had been fashioned into the steel fence. It had a screen-door hook and a sliding dead bolt on the outside.

Phalen said the girl was not in the bed at the time, but that when deputies questioned the parents about the fencing, they told them they confined the girl in her bed at night to keep her from getting up.

"Aside from the concern about psychological damage from the child being kept in a cage-type setting, there is also the concern that in a fire or another emergency the child couldn't get out," Phalen said.

The girl and an 8-month-old sibling were removed from the home and were in the custody of the county's child protective services, according to the sheriff.

He described the home as "filthy, without even a sheet on the girl's bed."

County Prosecutor Gregg Marx said his office is considering additional charges and expects to present the case to a grand jury this month.

Pleasantville is about 40 miles southeast of Columbus.

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by daniele7ster July 16, 2012 12:47 PM EDT: Lock up this trash and throw away the key!; Reply to this comment


by tondo7 July 16, 2012 9:29 AM EDT: I would like to THANK the police for doing a job that is not related to the call (domestic ) and noticed that fence on that bed and made an excellent move to remove the kids ASAP they just SAVES their lives. Thank you and GOD BLESS .; Reply to this comment


by milwaukeegregg July 13, 2012 2:48 PM EDT: I had to turn my kids crib upside down so he couldn't get out at night!Found him in the kitchen with knives at 3 in the morning!; Reply to this comment


by preacherbob1 July 13, 2012 2:24 PM EDT: Personally I think the ":bed cage" was a great idea.; Reply to this comment


by caljack430 July 13, 2012 2:08 PM EDT: for a second i thought this was a duplicate story of the one below it where the parents were putting their teenager in a chicken coup. they parents actually kinda look alike too... what on earth is this with people lately...; Reply to this comment