Palm Bay Woman Arrested For Locking Autistic Child Inside Cage
By Fox 35 // July 27, 2021
Melissa Doss charged with child neglect, aggravated child abuse
BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA (FOX 35) – A Florida woman has been arrested, accused of locking a non-verbal, autistic child inside a cage.
Melissa Doss, 43, was taken into custody on Sunday and charged with three counts of child neglect and one count of aggravated child abuse.
A day earlier, Palm Bay police officers responded to a residence on Filmore Ave. after receiving a call around 2:30 a.m. that a young girl had climbed over a privacy fence and entered a neighbor’s screened-in patio. Officers said the child could not speak and appeared to have a “disability.”
Officers went to the home where the child reportedly lives and spoke with Doss, Doss told officers she was unaware that the child had left the house, according to a police report, and explained that the child has autism.
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