Boys in Protective Custody After Being Chained to Bed
Deputies found dog chains attached to bedposts in the bedroom of two malnourished, filthy and underdeveloped brothers in a rural desert home, authorities said.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies found the brothers after one teen called 911 and after their aunt told deputies the boys’ cry for help was a hoax.
“It had been months since they had taken a bath,” said Deputy Fred Gonzalez.
The aunt, Faye Potts, and the boys’ parents, Carrie Davis, 41, and John Davis, 52, have been arrested for investigation of child abuse, sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said. Bail amounts were not immediately set.
A 17-year-old boy called authorities early Saturday, saying he and his 12-year-old brother were chained up in their bedroom, said Joshua Tree deputies.
Potts called the station less than an hour later and said the call was a prank.
When deputies arrived at the trailer home in Wonder Valley, just east of Twentynine Palms, they found the boys in poor health, as well as signs of physical and emotional neglect, Beavers said. Signs on a fence and painted on exterior walls said: “God’s Country,” “Spirit of God,” and “Jesus.”
The boys are in the county’s Child Protective Services, Beavers said.
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