Couple held; young boys locked in room

A Carson City couple remained jailed Tuesday after a deputy allegedly found two young boys - one with black eyes and the other with infected abrasions on his face - locked in a bedroom with boards on the window.

Robert Williams, 47, was booked into the Carson City Jail on suspicion of felony child abuse with substantial bodily harm, false imprisonment, and two counts of gross misdemeanor child neglect, abuse and endangerment.

Linda Williams, 35, who works as a caregiver, was booked on suspicion of felony child abuse with substantial bodily harm, principal to false imprisonment, and two counts of gross misdemeanor child neglect, abuse and endangerment.

According to the arrest report, an officer with the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Reno called the Carson City Sheriff's Office Saturday to request deputies contact Robert Williams. Williams had allegedly gone into the V.A. hospital on Friday with two boys who "looked pretty beat up," the report said.

When Deputy Tara Collier arrived at the Williams home on Clear Creek Road, she located Robert Williams there and found the children being kept in a bedroom that was locked from the outside by a sliding bolt.

"Inside the small bedroom was a bunk bed where two small boys were lying," she wrote. "The boys, age 5 and 3, were lying on the top bunk bed sharing a blanket. Located on the floor were two toddler potty chairs which were full of urine. The windows to the bedroom were boarded up from the inside."

Collier said the 5-year-old seemed afraid to speak and refused to come out from behind the blanket. He also allegedly had two black eyes.

Collier said she was unable to awaken the sleeping 3-year-old boy.

"Covering the majority of (the 3-year-old's) face was a large abrasion," she wrote. "The tissue surrounding the abrasion was bright red and appeared infected."

Collier noted there were no toys in the bedroom or anywhere else in the trailer. She stated a cord that held the refrigerator door shut was there "so the children could not get into the food."

"There was a small dog in the house that was well groomed and appeared to be cared for more than the children," Collier noted.

Williams declined to speak with police and was arrested on the spot.

Paramedics were called to the home and the children were taken to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. Their conditions were not released.

Josh Noble with Nevada Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday that the boys are now in protective custody with the Division of Child and Family Services.

According to the police report, neither of the children had been to a doctor in three years.

Collier noted a V.A. employee said the 3-year-old claimed his mother scrubbed his face with a Brillo pad.

An officer then contacted Linda Williams at her job as a caregiver.

Linda Williams allegedly told police her husband, who was not working, always locked the boys in their room while she worked long hours.

She said she let the children out of the room when she was home.

She also allegedly said she used soap and a washcloth to remove Wite-Out correction fluid from her youngest son's face on Thursday.

Collier wrote in the report that Linda Williams "completed a letter of apology" for her sons' treatment.

The Clear Creek Trailer Park manager said Tuesday the Williamses have lived in the 75-unit park since 2005.

Asking to be identified only by first name, Jim said he was aware that the couple had children, but he hadn't ever seen them outside.

"They are not out playing with other kids, but the other kids here are older so that wouldn't be an uncommon thing for them to be in the backyard," he said.

Jim said if the window on the bedroom were boarded up, it would be difficult to see because the trailers abut one another.

"It just gives me chills to think that's happening within 200 yards of where I live," he said. "If I had even the slightest inclination that something might be happening, I would have called police."