By Zanub Saeed
A mother and father were arrested for child abuse and child endangerment when it was found they had bound and blindfolded two of their children in a Kansas Walmart parking lot, said the Associated Press on Friday.
Five children were found in a vehicle owned by the parents, named Adolfo and Deborah Gomez, reported ABC News, but the youngest two, ages 5 and 7, were the only ones found visibly restrained, said the report. The other three children, sand the Associated Press, were found inside their family's vehicle outside the Lawrence, Kan., Walmart and unrestrained. The father was in the car at the time and tried to fight when a local officer had noticed the incident, and the mother was inside Walmart during this time.
Lawrence local police sergeant Trent McKinley got a report of what had happened when officers at the Walmart tried to stop Gomez. Police had responded to a 911 call from a shopper who had noticed that the youngest child was sitting on the ground next to family's large SUV with his hands tied behind his back, and with his eyes covered with a blindfold, said the Associated Press.
"[The children's] legs were bound, their arms were bound behind their backs and they were wearing, at the minimum, blindfolds," Lawrence police Sgt. Trent McKinley told ABCNews.com.
"They were off in the far southwest parking lot and they had covered the window of the vehicles and the doors that were open faced away from the parking lot," he said. "It was not something that a lot of people would have seen."
"[The officers] looked towards the rear in the interior [of the car] and saw three additional children. We didn't even know," McKinley said. "The windows were covered with clothing and cardboard from the inside"
The couple, from Northlake, Ill., said the Associated Press, were arrested and appeared in court on Thursday via video in Kansas. Bonds on both adults have been set at $50,000, and have preliminary hearings set for June 21st. Their five children, said the AP, are in protective custody.
A spokesperson for Walmart said that they are cooperating with the police during the investigation, including providing surveillance footage from the Kansas branch.
"We are working closely with the Lawrence police department and providing any information we have," Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Ashley Hardie told the Associated Press.
