Grandmother and her boyfriend arrested for allegedly locking children in dog cage as punishment

Coldwater, Mississippi: On Tuesday, March 8, the Tate County Sheriff's Office received a referral from the East Tate Elementary School regarding possible child abuse.

According to investigators, a student at the school told the teacher that he didn't want to get in trouble again as it would lead to confinement in a cage at home.

Law enforcement and Child Protective Services arrived at a residence on the 400 block of Turner Road to perform a search of the home.

"The deputies walked in with a CPS worker and a metal cave was located inside one of the bedrooms that belonged to the children," Tate County Sheriff's Office Captain Lisa Sanders said. That cage, described as being approximately 4 feet wide and 4 feet high, had a lock on it.

Four children were living in the home at the time with their grandmother, 51-year-old Brenda Dennison and her boyfriend, 52-year-old Adrian LeSure.

Two of the children, ages 6 and 9-years-old are believed to have been subjected to confinement in the cage. At this time investigators do not believe that the 4 or 5-year-old were confined, but the investigation is still underway.

"In my 25 years of law enforcement, I have yet to have this type of child abuse when it comes to a confinement of a child," Sanders said. "I've seen all other forms of child abuse, but this will be the first for me."

Both Dennison and LeSure were arrested on two counts each of felonious child abuse on Tuesday. On Thursday, March 10 both Tate bonded out of custody. Dennison remains in custody at the Tate County Jail.

All four children were first placed into the custody of CPS, but have now been placed into another home according to Law and Crime.

Their next court date is not known at this time.