GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Two University of Florida scientists were arrested last week after it was revealed that they locked their children in cages, according to the Gainesville Police Department.
The scientists — Dustin Huff, 35, and Yurui Xie, 31 — are a married couple who live with their two children, police said in an arrest report.
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However, Huff and Xie’s 6-year-old child one day told investigators that he “did not want to go home because the father built a cage to lock him in while the mother worked,” the report reads.
According to police, this prompted an investigation by the Department of Families and Children, causing investigators to come and examine the couple’s home.
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During this time, police found a wooden cage with bolts on the outside in the 6-year-old’s bedroom, the report shows.
Police said the child told investigators that he was kept in the cage throughout the night until 7 a.m., which is when it was “time for school.” The child was also made to wear diapers at night.
In addition, the child said that Xie would place him in the cage after school before leaving the house, and he was kept in the cage until Huff got home from work, the report states.
The investigation also revealed that the child’s sibling was placed in a makeshift cage inside Huff and Xie’s bathroom closet, police said. Upon searching the closet, police found a toddler’s crib that was turned upside down.
“(The 6-year-old) demonstrated that in order to place (his sibling) in the upside-down crib, you had to pick the front of the crib up and place (his sibling) in the upside-down crib,” police wrote.
The crib had exposed metal springs and wiring that could have harmed the child at night, police said.
Police added that before leaving both children with DCF, the 6-year-old said, “I didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. I just didn’t want to be in the cage.”
On Dec. 8, both Huff and Xie were taken into custody, and face charges of child neglect and two counts of child abuse. They are each held on bond of $600,000.
The University of Florida told News 6 on Thursday that Huff and Xie were placed on administrative leave following their arrests.
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