OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A northeast Nebraska husband and wife accused of locking a special-needs foster child in a basement storage room have pleaded guilty.
Krista and Charles Parker are scheduled to be sentenced May 26 in U.S. District Court in Omaha. Krista Parker, 36, pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse. Charles Parker, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts.
Prosecutors filed new charging documents Friday that didn’t include kidnapping charges that had been filed in October 2018.
The 10-year-old boy was found Sept. 15, 2018, in the basement room of the Macy home by Omaha Nation Law Enforcement Services officers. Krista Parker was drunk and asleep in an upstairs bedroom, authorities have said.
The Parkers told investigators they only occasionally locked the boy in the room, but officers found the room covered in human feces and urine. The boy, who had been living with the couple for nine months, told officials that the room served as his bedroom, where he ate his meals and slept on the floor.
