Two parents were jailed after two of their children were found locked behind makeshift “cage-like” doors in a roach-infested home near Marianna Saturday night.
Shane Christopher Ratliff, 33, and Constance Ratliff, 24, are each charged with child abuse in the case.
Those two youngsters and a third child belonging to the family were removed from the home and turned over to the Department of Children and Families for placement in a safe environment.
Officials arrived at the home on Calloway Road near Marianna around 11:30 Saturday night at the request of DCF to investigate a child abuse complaint.
Inside, they found three children, ages 2, 3, and 4, in the care of the Ratliffs, their parents, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. The two children found locked behind the cage doors were laying on the floor in separate bedrooms which had no beds or other furniture. Both of the rooms were infested with roaches and the floors were covered in trash, officials reported. In one of the bedrooms, dirty diapers were scattered on the floor. The rest of the house was infested with roaches and cat feces.