Toddler Found In Cage In Tulsa Home, Father Arrested On Child Neglect Charges

Authorities also discovered the man’s four-year old daughter naked outside on a cold afternoon, while he was asleep in a drug or alcohol "induced stupor," police said.

Police were called to the scene after a neighbor found the older child outside the family's home, the Associated Press reported. The neighbor knocked on the father’s house door around 4 p.m. Sunday but got no response.

The authorities' knocks also went unanswered before “one of the officers looked inside and saw a small child in a dog cage," Tulsa police spokesman, Officer Leland Ashley, told the AP.

After making a forced entry, police discovered the toddler covered in feces, while another three-year-old child was asleep in separate room.

Their father was found asleep on a bed, "in an alcohol- or narcotics-induced stupor," Ashley said.

The three children were placed into the custody of the Department of Human Services, and the father was arrested on a child neglect complaint, the AP reported.

While the name of the father has not been released in an effort to protect the identity of the children, Ashley did tell the newswire that the kids showed no sign of physical injury.

The mother of the children was reportedly at work and arrived as officers were preparing to leave the scene. She was not arrested and her name was not released, Ashley said.

"A citizen was concerned, he heard a small child crying outside for about 20 minutes. He went outside to investigate and found the four-year-old child," he said. "You have to give credit to that neighbor who acted and did not ignore the situation."

The father is being held in the Tulsa County jail on $50,000 bond, and his court date is Nov. 19, according to online jail records, obtained by the AP.