Some people should not have children, and this is especially apparent in the case of a Florida mom who forced her autistic daughter to live in a metal and wood cage.
Melissa Ann Doss of Palm Bay was charged with three counts of neglect and one count of child abuse following police responding to her home on July 24th after a neighbor reported seeing a child inside their screened-in patio. When police first went to Doss’ home, she would not open the door. Eventually, she spoke with officers and told them that she was unaware that her daughter had left home while she was asleep but refused to let them inside.
That same day, the same neighbors called the police again to report that the child was back at their home. During that second visit, Doss still refused the officer’s entry into the house but did tell them that she was “at the end of her rope.” She also told officers that DCF would be notified if they saw the inside of her house, alluding that something terrible was on the other side of the door.
The following day, a child protective investigator visited Doss. Once inside, the smell of feces and urine was “strongly present.” Trash and insects littered the “uninhabitable” residence with no working bathrooms and no food or water. However, nothing compared to the most shocking discovery: the homemade cage that the severely autistic child slept in.
Investigators learned that the non-verbal girl spent nights locked in the enclosure, which had a blanket and pillow inside. Doss allegedly told police her daughter would scream in the mornings until she was removed from the cage.
The child and her two siblings were taken from the home.
Doss remains in jail on a $20,000 bond.
