Couple locked 2 children inside dirty dog crates as punishment, police say
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LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — A Dauphin County couple is accused of locking two children inside dirty dog crates and forcing them to live in unsanitary conditions.
Scott Narvell, 62, and his girlfriend, 59-year-old Debbie Meck, are each charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of children.
Lower Paxton Township police said the children, ages 11 and 12, were staying with Narvell and Meck at a home in the 5400 block of Dwight Avenue. Narvell is the children’s great-grandfather.
According to a criminal complaint, the kids were placed in foster care after a code enforcement officer deemed the home unfit for human habitation due to “unsanitary and deplorable living conditions.”
The children told their foster parents that Narvell and Meck placed them in dog crates on three separate occasions as a form of punishment, the complaint alleges.
The crates were sometimes filled with dog feces, and the children would have to stay there for 30 minutes to an hour or more without food or water, police said.
Court records show Narvell and Meck are free on bail, which was set at $75,000 each.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 27.
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