An Iowa man and his girlfriend are facing kidnapping charges after allegedly torturing the man's eight year old son.
A north-central Iowa man and his girlfriend have been charged with kidnapping after police say the couple tortured the man's eight year old son for months by locking him in a basement enclosure for hours every day, withholding food and having a dog bite him.
The Hardin County Attorney's Office says for months, 39 year old Traci Tyler and 30 year old Alex Shadlow, both of Ackley, Iowa, locked Shadlow's son in a basement enclosure for hours every day, withholding food and having a dog bite him.
An arrest affidavit says the abuse happened between July and September 2017 when the boy was locked up for at least 9 hours a day in an enclosed 6-foot square space under the basement stairs, where he had to sleep on concrete with no bedding and had no access to a bathroom.
Police say Tyler also beat the boy with a fly swatter handle and urged her dog to bite and attack the boy, leaving permanent scarring on his back and limbs.
Authorities were alerted to the abuse by the boy's school when a teacher noticed the boy was underweight and losing patches of hair. The boy eventually confided in the teacher about all the terror he endured at the hands of his father and his girlfriend.
Authorities said the child suffered post-traumatic stress symptoms but is doing well since being removed from the home ten months ago.
Both Tyler and Shadlow have been charged with First Degree Kidnapping and could get life in prison.