A 10-year-old London, Ont., boy was found locked up in a bedroom living in squalid conditions for up to two years.
“It’s a horrific case,” Det.-Insp. Kevin Heslop said at a news conference on Friday.
He said officers found the child Thursday afternoon after the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex received a tip from a member of the public.
Once inside they found no adults but a boy locked in the master bedroom of a home on Asima Drive in the southeast area of the city.
Police say the master bedroom had an ensuite bathroom so the boy had access to a toilet and shower but they say the entire house was in squalid condition.
They found a lot of garbage, fast food packaging, feces and urine. The boy’s bed was soaked in urine as was his pajamas.
The boy was taken by the Children’s Aid Society to a hospital where he was determined to be underweight and malnourished. Police believe the boy was fed only twice a day with mostly fast food.
His guardians, an aunt and uncle, were arrested shortly afterwards on Thursday and face offences of failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement.
No names were released in order to protect the identities of the boy and the couple’s nine-year-old daughter who was also living at the home. There was no evidence that she was locked up.
However, both children were placed in separate foster homes and “are settling in well.”
“The [male] child was confused and upset but the child is doing quite well now,” Heslop said.
His parents are out of the country and police are trying to reach them and aren’t sure if they know about his living conditions.
The boy, who may have been briefly outside in 2013, knows some English and told the children’s aid worker that he’d like to eat regular food and go to school, Children’s Aid Society executive director Jane Fitzgerald said.
The police investigation is continuing.
The accused guardians remain in police custody and a court date hasn’t been disclosed.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misreported one of the charges.
With files from The Canadian Press