Grand jury indicts Las Vegas couple accused of locking children in dog cages
By C.C. McCandless
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — A Las Vegas grand jury has indicted a married couple after they allegedly locked multiple children in kennels and dog cages.
On June 11, Amanda Stamper called Las Vegas police dispatch from a valley pharmacy to report that she was hiding in a stock room because her husband, Travis Doss, was trying to kill her. An LVMPD officer was dispatched and found her there, where she told him that there were children locked in a dog kennel at the couple’s apartment.
Officers responded to the residence on the 4200 block of S. Valley View Blvd. to conduct a welfare check. They knocked on the door repeatedly but received no answer. An employee from the leasing office eventually unlocked the door and released the locking latch that was in place. That employee reported that the latch had been removed before, but each time an individual from inside the apartment would replace it.
Officers entered the apartment and found two children locked in a kennel with a padlock on it. Maintenance provided bolt cutters and the lock was cut to get the children out. One left immediately and identified himself, but the other could not walk unassisted. An officer observed that the boy had two black eyes that were swollen shut, multiple marks and bruises all over his body, and described him as “emaciated.” Officers supported his weight to help him walk.
The boy asked for his father and said he didn’t want to get him in trouble.
The boy needed surgery and a doctor said the child would have died if he had not been brought to the hospital. The doctor added that he had not seen a victim that severely beaten since his military tour in Afghanistan, where he observed children who had been dipped in hot oil. A nurse said that it was the worst case of abuse she had seen in 13 years.
Stamper is charged with six counts of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm. Doss is charged with over two dozen counts of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm, as well as two kidnapping charges. He is also facing separate charges of sex trafficking and living from the earnings of a prostitute with physical force or threat of physical force.
Both suspects are scheduled to be arraigned in district court on August 1.
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