LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas grand jury has handed down an indictment against a couple accused of "keeping their children in dog kennels" last month.
According to the indictment, the couple — identified as Travis Doss and Amanda Stamper — are currently facing nearly 41 combined charges, including child abuse, neglect, and kidnapping. Doss is being charged with 34 counts of child abuse and kidnapping, while Stamper faces 7 counts.
Arrest reports show that Stamper called the police while she was hiding from her husband in a Walgreens, and told officers that they needed to go to their apartment because "there were children locked in a dog kennel."
When officers arrived at the apartment, two children under the age of 12 were found locked in a dog kennel with a padlock on it. Officers used bolt cutters to remove the padlocks and free the children.
Court transcripts show that an emergency medicine physician testified before the jury that one of the children in the kennel had "severe swelling around the eyes and a skull fracture."
They added that the child had "multiple bruises" and "multiple lacerations" on his face, as well as "fresher wounds" on his gums and inside his cheek. The physician also described the child as "severely cachectic," which is a term used to describe someone with a lack of muscle mass, something consistent with "some type of starvation situation."
An arrest report indicates that a nurse told police it was "the worst case of abuse she has seen in 13 years."
In a separate interview with police, investigators say Doss admitted to hitting all the children except for the baby.
Stamper told police Doss was her "pimp," and she would post ads on various websites to meet men for dates, investigators stated. She also told police that Doss would "punch, kick, strangle and body slam her as well as throw objects at her," as well.
Doss' bail was set at $250,000 and Stamper's at $120,000 during their initial court appearances in June.
