DEXTER, Minn.- Two young boys are in protective custody after police say their parents were chaining them to their beds.
33-year-old Brian Miller and his wife 26-year-old Charity Miller, of Dexter, MN were arrested last week.
Both parents are facing multiple charges of false imprisonment, child neglect, and abuse. They were released on bail Monday.
Child services first learned about a possible abuse case from the younger of the two boys who is a student at Southland School in Adams, MN.
Law enforcement officials were shocked to hear his stories of being chained to his bed.
The accusations are hard to believe for parents in the Dexter area like Tom Kelzer.
"You hear about stuff like that, on and off I've heard about it over the years, but I never thought it would have happened around here I guess," he said.
Court documents show the miller's 5-year-old son first told workers at Southland School he doesn't get fed enough and is often hungry. He also reported being chained to his bed every night and not being allowed to get up to go to the bathroom.
"Apparently that was the whole crux of it, that the kids wanted more food so they were chained to their bed or this was in lou of daycare or whatever the case might be," said Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi.
A Mower County Sheriff's Detective and a Child Services worker visited the home in rural Dexter.
Charity Miller allowed them inside the house where investigators found a crib with no mattress and a chain around the wooden bars secured with a padlock. They also found a similar lock on a plastic drawer near the entrance of the room.
"This is probably the worst case of child abuse in neglect in my 23 years with Mower County that I’ve ever seen unfortunately," said Amazi.
Amazi says the Miller's 8-year-old son also reported being chained to his bed at one time, but was allowed to just stay in his room because he stopped sneaking out at night for food.
"The older boy said he had been in trouble at school for stealing food, well he wasn't getting enough to eat," said Amazi.
Court documents show Charity Miller indicated she understood chaining a child to a bed was unacceptable, but claimed it was her husband's idea.
"The female that was arrested said she knew that this was wrong, so why do it?” Amazi said, “You know you've got an obligation to protect those children."
We knocked on the door of the Miller's home, but no one answered. Kelzer says the charges are disturbing.
"It's hard to believe, you know being a parent, I wouldn't even think of doing something like that to my kids," she said.
Amazi says the kids were only allowed out of their chains or room to go to school and to eat dinner at night.
Court records suggest both boys were extremely small for their age.
Authorities say the children will remain in protective custody unless a court orders them to be returned to their parents.
The Miller’s will appear in mower county court in about two weeks.
