Boy Found Almost Dead After Being Locked in Dog Kennel by His Dad: Police

A Nevada couple has been arrested after a child was found on the brink of death in a dog kennel along with other children who had been abused, according to police.

Las Vegas police were called to a convenience store on Sunday, June 11, by a woman who claimed her husband "had threatened to kill her," according to documents obtained by CBS affiliate 8 News Now.

The woman, later identified as Amanda Stamper, 33, told police that "there were children locked in a dog kennel at the home she shared with Travis Doss, 31.

Documents obtained by the network said: "Amanda admitted to [the officer] that Travis is her pimp and he makes her prostitute for money."

When officers arrived at the home near Flamingo Road and Valley View Boulevard, they found two children in a locked kennel.

Officers put the ages of the children at 9 and 11 and one of them was unable to get out of the kennel as he had "two black eyes that were swollen shut," according to the documents.

The child also had multiple marks and bruises all over his body and he was also emaciated, police said.

Documents obtained by 8 News Now said a responding doctor told officers he "had not seen a child this severely beaten since his military tour in Afghanistan where he observed children who had been dipped in hot oil."

Police said the child would have likely died had he not been taken to the hospital.

Doss and Stamper were arrested and charged with six counts of child abuse or neglect resulting in substantial bodily harm. Doss was also charged with sex trafficking and attempted murder. The couple is due to return to court on Wednesday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least one in seven children in the U.S. have experienced abuse or neglect in the past year.

"This is likely an underestimate because many cases are unreported. In 2020, 1,750 children died of abuse and neglect in the United States," said the CDC website.

Doss is the father of six of the children and Stamper has one 2-year-old child who lived at the home and was not abused. On Saturday, Doss reportedly told Stamper he thought the older child in the kennel was dead, according to the documents seen by 8 News Now, because he had "kicked him in the head too hard." Stamper said she then left the apartment with the 2-year-old on Sunday to get help after Doss threatened to kill her.

Stamper reportedly told investigators that Doss "is violent towards all the children," with the exception of the 2-year-old.

She said Doss hit the children with belts, extension cords, and skillets as well as his hands and feet.

Newsweek has contacted the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment via email.