KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A suburban Kansas City man has been charged after emergency responders found his girlfriend and their two children suffering from severe neglect, Jackson County prosecutors said.
Jackson County Fire Protection District responders found a 27-year-old woman in a waste-filled bathtub at a Blue Springs home on Friday, according to a probable cause statement from Blue Springs police.
Police said the twin girls were severely malnourished. They said their father locked them in a closet for a long time and frequently punished them, the statement said.
The suspect told police he put the woman in a bathtub because she has multiple sclerosis. He said he worked for two days and checked on her on the third day.
The Associated Press is not naming the man to protect the woman and children’s identities.
He was charged with two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child/creating a substantial risk, and second-degree domestic assault.
The family had several contacts with social services last year, The Independence Examiner reported. A Missouri Department of Social Services spokeswoman said state law prevents the agency from commenting on specific child abuse and neglect investigations.
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