Henderson parents get probation for keeping 11-year-old with autism in ‘jail cell’
by: David Charns
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two parents who kept an 11-year-old child living with autism in a makeshift jail cell will have to serve a year of probation, a judge ordered Wednesday.
In January, Jeffery Scanlan and Misty Scanlan pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect or endangerment, a gross misdemeanor.
Last spring, police performing a welfare check at a home near Wigwam and Green Valley parkways found the boy in a “large metal enclosure” with metal bars and locked doors, “similar to a jail cell,” documents said.
The boy was wearing only a diaper and the enclosure had feces on the floors and walls, documents said. Jeffery Scanlan told police that the child was diagnosed with “severe autism spectrum disorder.” Three other children were in the home when police arrived.
As part of the plea agreement, the maximum sentence Clark County District Court Judge Jessica Peterson could have issued was a year in jail. Prosecutors did not oppose probation should the court determine the couple was not “high risk.”
Peterson followed the deal, sentencing the couple to probation for a year. Should either violate the terms of their probation, they will be sent to jail.
Jeffery Scanlan told police the enclosure was in the home for six years, documents said.
Nevada parents locked son with autism inside feces-covered makeshift jail cell: police report
Police visited the home to check on child who officials say had not been to school for about a week, arrest report says
Clark County School District Police went to a Henderson, Nevada home to check on a child who hadn’t been in class for over a week.
HENDERSON, Nev. — According to a police report, Clark County School District officers went to a Nevada home on Tuesday to check on one of the children who hadn’t been to school for over a week.
They say after officers knocked on the door for about 40 minutes, one of the suspects finally opened it, revealing what officials call deplorable living conditions.
From the outside, the house may look like any other in the seemingly quiet Henderson neighborhood.
But a police report obtained by Channel 13 paints a clearer picture of what was going on inside the home.
“It’s kind of dark to have people with that mentality here as neighbors,” one neighbor said, in Spanish.
Misty Scanlan, 46, and Jeffrey Scanlan, 41, live in the home on Silverton Drive with their four children.
According to the arrest report, CCSD Police visited the home Tuesday to check on one of the couple’s children, who police say had not been to school for about a week.
While at the door, officers say they could hear a “child screaming and a gate rattling inside.”
Both Henderson police and CCSD officers knocked on the door for over a half hour until the children’s father finally opened it.
In the report, officers say they saw the suspect’s 11-year-old son, who has autism and was wearing a diaper, locked inside a makeshift jail cell that was covered in feces in the living room.
The Scanlans’ three other children were also home.
One man was shocked to learn what was happening in his neighborhood.
“I don’t have space in my head to think about how you can do that,” he said, in Spanish.
In an interview with police, the suspects said the metal enclosure had been inside the home for roughly six years.
The Scanlans said they would lock their 11-year-old son inside when his quote “behavior got out of control.”
The report says Misty and her two older children would clean the enclosure but stopped cleaning it about three weeks ago because they were getting “extremely busy.”
According to police, the couple’s daughter also has autism, and they locked her in her room as well.
“There’s no justification for this,” the couple’s neighbor said.
The couple were arrested and booked into the Henderson Detention Center on one count of child abuse and neglect, but have since posted bail.
Channel 13 went to the home on Thursday. One of the suspect’s parents was there, but refused to speak with them.
The 11-year-old boy was taken to a hospital to be checked out. His three other siblings were placed in the care of another family member.
The Henderson couple will be back in court for a status check on May 14.
Henderson couple who kept autistic child in ‘makeshift jail cell’ sentenced
Couple who kept autistic child in ‘makeshift jail cell’ get probation after plea deal. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Misty Scanlan, and her husband, Jeffery, who pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment after they were arrested in April, leave a courtroom after their sentencing at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Jeffery Scanlan, left, and his wife, Misty, who pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment after they were arrested in April, appear In court with their attorney Michael Horvath, right, during their sentencing at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Misty Scanlan, and her husband, Jeffery, who pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment after they were arrested in April, leave a courtroom with their attorney Michael Horvath, right, after their sentencing at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Misty Scanlan, and her husband, Jeffery, who pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment after they were arrested in April, leave a courtroom after their sentencing at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
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A Henderson couple arrested after police discovered an autistic child confined in a “makeshift jail cell” were sentenced to probation Wednesday.
Misty Scanlan and Jeffery Scanlan pleaded guilty to child neglect or endangerment, a gross misdemeanor, in January. They initially faced felony counts of child abuse, neglect or endangerment after they were arrested last April.
The plea deals for the Scanlans specified that they agreed to be placed on probation for a year and receive 364-day suspended sentences. Prosecutors had the right to argue at the sentencing if the two were deemed at high risk to reoffend, but did not do so.
District Judge Jessica Peterson said the two defendants were both deemed low risks. She followed the negotiations and said their probation will not exceed 12 months.
Defense attorney Michael Horvath did not make any argument. Neither of the Scanlans had anything to say to the judge.
“It’s a very fair resolution,” Horvath said after court. “Obviously, the initial charges didn’t really show what the underlying facts were.”
He said the Scanlans did not actually keep their child in a cage, but he declined to elaborate.
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Defense attorney Robert Draskovich previously said the Scanlans had not acted maliciously. The boy was in a “structure” intended to prevent him from harming himself, he said.
Police said in an arrest report that Henderson and Clark County School District police went to the Scanlans’ home after their four children did not go to school for days.
There, officers found an 11-year-old autistic boy wearing only a diaper and locked in what the report described as a “makeshift jail cell.” The house smelled like feces and was in “extreme disarray,” according to police. The boy was hospitalized.
The Scanlans told police they had trouble accessing resources for their children and hadn’t been able to clean the house for a couple of weeks. Jeffery Scanlan claimed the boy was “big and strong” and “can be very aggressive when he wants something.”
Draskovich said Wednesday that he thinks the 11-year-old is currently in his clients’ custody. The Scanlans “did the best they could with the tools at their disposal,” he said.
He added: “They’ve learned from this.”
