FAIRMONT, W.Va. A pair in Fairmont are facing charges after police allege they restrained a child to a chair with a leash and a dumbbell.
On Tuesday, the Fairmont Police Department learned of a CPS investigation into reports that a 2-year-old child was allegedly being abused at a residence on Gaston Avenue.
CPS workers told the police Keena White, 34, was in the home while the child was restrained in an arm chair with duct tape.
Officers went to the home and made contact with White and Destiny Turner, 32, of Fairmont, and located a rope and several nylon straps; one appeared to be a leash with a ribbon that was tied to the metal frame of the chair. Police also observed a 25-pound dumbbell tied to the chair with a separate harness.
When police showed pictures of bruises to the child, White said they were pinching the child as a discipline measure.
Turner then told police they would restrain the child to the chair for long periods during the day and while the child slept at night, and that it would take several minutes to remove the restraints.
Turner also said the child slept in the restraint because there was not a bed available. The officers then located a child’s bed in another room that couldn’t be used because of clutter and trash.
White and Turner have been charged with child neglect, creating a risk of injury, and are being held in the North Central Regional Jail on a $175,512 bond each.