Couple arrested after school officials find children handcuffed inside father's vehicle [View all]

[left-of-center2012]

WHITE OAK, Pa. —
A couple was arrested at a school in White Oak on Wednesday after police said school officials found two children handcuffed inside their father's vehicle. White Oak police were called to Francis McClure Elementary School in the McKeesport Area School District Wednesday afternoon after an 11-year-old boy was refusing to enter his father's vehicle during dismissal from school. "He just really let loose and was just, 'I'm not going with him' and he really resisted with the father, and then the father put him to the ground," says school principal, David Listorti. He says it became violent and disturbing, resulting in the school police officer contacting White Oak police, "the student grabbed around my leg and had his hands locked, saying I'm not going," Listorti says.

Police said when school officials looked inside the father's vehicle, they saw that the father was with a woman and there were two children, ages 7 and 10, handcuffed in the back seat. The couple, identified as 37-year-old Richard Hayes of Mt. Oliver and 26-year-old Natosha Bell of Rankin, was taken into custody. Police also said Hayes had a loaded gun.

The boys told authorities they were often locked in a small room called “the hole,” which police discovered to be an empty coal cellar with no lights, no water, and a concrete floor, according to a criminal complaint. Each child told of being locked in “the hole” for days at a time, authorities said. The children also said they had been physically abused by Hayes and Bell. The abuse included beatings and in one instance, forcing a boy’s head underwater in the tub, authorities said.

Hayes and Bell both face 14 charges, including aggravated assault, unlawful restraint of a minor, false imprisonment of a minor and child endangerment. Hayes is also charged with possessing a weapon on school property. Allegheny County police said an emergency referral was made to Allegheny County Children, Youth and Families (to house the children).

https://www.wtae.com/article/school-officials-find-children-handcuffed-inside-fathers-vehicle/36355961#