O.C. Parents Suspected of Keeping Autistic Son in Dog Kennel Cage

Originally posted at 11:02 a.m. July 2, 2014. Edited with new details.

An 11-year-old autistic boy and his younger siblings are in protective custody today and their parents under arrest for allegedly keeping him caged in a dog kennel.

Police and official with Orange County Child Protective Services went to the home in the 1300 block of Garrett Street around 6 p.m. Tuesday in response to a complaint that a boy was being kept in a cage, according to Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn.

Inside the home, officers found a large dog kennel that was outfitted with a mattress and bedding, Dunn said.

The cage was "the means his parents used to control him," Dunn said.

He said there are "varying reports" of how long the boy has been caged -- "from several years to several months to several hours," Dunn said, adding that the boy appeared to have become too much for his parents to handle.

The boy will undergo a medical check, he said, and a strategy will be devised to best to communicate with him.

Dunn said the boy's' siblings, a boy and a girl, are 10 and 8. They and the disabled boy are in good physical condition, he said.

Their Vietnamese parents -- Loi Vu, 40, and Tracy Le, 35 -- speak English, but not fluently, Dunn said. They were arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and felony false imprisonment, he said.

--City News Service