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Tulsa dad William Lewallen arrested after toddler found in cage

By Lena Sullivan / Dailymail.co.uk 11/13/2012 11:23:00

Read More: William Todd Lewallen , Toddler found in cage

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William Todd Lewallen told police he had taken narcotic pain medicine, a muscle relaxant and an anti-seizure medication, then 'laid down to take a rest'

A 47-year-old Tulsa man has been arrested for felony child neglect after police were called to his home to find three young children naked and in various states of distress, while he was passed out on a bed.

After hearing a child crying outside for over 20 minutes on Sunday evening, a neighbor went to investigate what was happening outside William Todd Lewallen's residence.

The man found the child, who was naked, and knocked on Lewallen’s front door. When no one answered, the neighbor took the child to his house and called the police.

Police spotted a naked 18-month-old girl locked in this metal dog kennel and covered in her own feces

'When officers arrived they spoke with the neighbor and investigated further,' said Officer Leland Ashley of the Tulsa Police Department. 'As they approached the house they could hear screaming and crying coming from inside.'

Spotting a naked child locked in a metal dog crate, police kicked open the back door and removed a 18-month-old girl from the kennel. She was covered in her own feces.

'Upon entry officers were immediately hit with the overwhelming stench of feces,' Ashley said.

A third child, a 3-year-old - also naked - was found asleep in a bed in the master bedroom, along with Lewallen, who was passed out.

Once awoken, Lewallen told police that had taken narcotic pain medicine, a muscle relaxant and an anti-seizure medication, then 'laid down to take a rest.'

Squalor: Officers investigating the call from a neighbor found Lewallen passed out in the master bedroom, and one of the children locked in a cage in the messy home

A neighbor found a naked toddler locked outside of this Tulsa house on Sunday evening, while father William Todd Lewallen was inside

Officers also spotted an open can of beer next to the bed.

'The defendant was unaware that a naked child had been locked out of his house and was outside in the 40 degree weather for over 20 minutes,' the arrest report states.

'The screaming child in the dog kennel did not wake the defendant nor did the officers kicking the door down to rescue the toddler in the dog cage.'

The three children are now in Department of Human Services custody.

Lewallen remains at the Tulsa Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond on a complaint of child abuse by neglect. His next court date is set for November 19, 2012.

Since 1989, Lewallen has been named in eight felony cases in four counties. He was to remain on probation until December 2013 after being convicted of second-degree burglary in Osage County in 2003, reports Tulsaworld.

In August, he was given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to a Tulsa County charge filed last year of possessing a precursor with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

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