Police Detail Horrific Child Abuse Allegations

KOKOMO, Ind. -- Four adults were arrested after officers determined two Kokomo children had suffered daily abuse at home, at times including beatings, food deprivation and being bound in a closet, police said.

The adults -- the children's mothers and two other people -- were arrested Monday after one of the mothers, Melissa Chandler, complained to police that someone was preventing her from seeing her daughter, police said.

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Slideshow: Police Say 2 Kokomo Children Abused Daily

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Officers investigating the complaint said they found Chandler's 4-year-old daughter and the 4-year-old son of Chandler's sister in the home, 1100 S. Home Ave., suffering from multiple injuries and open wounds Monday afternoon.

Kokomo police Lt. Don Whitehead said he didn't believe the children would have survived at the home for much longer.

"This is probably the worst case of abuse I've seen with a living child -- one that wasn't dead when we found them," Whitehead told 6News' Jack Rinehart on Tuesday.

The children were taken to St. Joseph Hospital for treatment. Police said the girl had multiple fractures to her hands and arms; information about the boy's condition wasn't immediately released.

Police arrested Chandler; her sister Jennifer Leonard, 36; Donald Hawk, 33; and Madeline Hawk, 42, on felony neglect charges. Three of them also were held on additional charges.

Kokomo police said the children were abused daily in the home. They were frequently beaten, bound and kept in a closet, police said. Investigators believe the girl was once kept in a closet for three weeks straight, Whitehead said.

Police said the children had been attached to items with zip ties to restrict their movement and were forced to stand in corners, sometimes overnight.

Water and food were also kept from the children for long periods of time, according to police.

A neighbor, Bridget Cordero, said she had never seen the children.

"It's sad. It's sick," she said of the allegations. "I've got four kids. How can you do that to a child?"

In addition to the neglect charge, Madeline Hawk also was being held on a battery charge. Leonard and Chandler also were being held on charges of inducing or causing battery.