Left inset: James Kahl (WPKD/YouTube). Right inset: Carly Kahl (WTAE/YouTube). Background: The Pennsylvania home where James Kahl and Carly Kahl allegedly kept their children in “dungeon”-like conditions (WTAE/YouTube).
A Pennsylvania couple are accused of keeping their five kids locked up in a “feces covered” room that allegedly “functioned as a dungeon” — with video cameras set up inside that were “hardwired” to the father”s room and “no door handle for the children to escape,” according to police officials.
James Kahl, 65, and Carly Kahl, 41, are charged with endangering the welfare of children, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and other crimes related to the “deplorable living conditions” that authorities uncovered last month at their house in Redstone Township, according to a Pennsylvania State Police report.
“Troopers observed … no beds, boarded up windows, feces covered on the bedroom walls, fleas, limited clothing, and food,” the PSP report alleges. “Also determined was the father J. Kahl locked the children’s bedroom door from the outside trapping the children inside their rooms through-out part of the day and all the night.”
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State troopers responded to the home Wednesday following an Aug. 8 report about the alleged living conditions, police say. The children staying at the home are between the ages of 5 and 14, per cops. They were all allegedly being kept in the same room inside the residence.
“This room functioned as a dungeon with video cameras hardwired to the father’s room,” the PSP report says. “There were three deadbolt locks on the outside of the door and no door handle for the children to escape.”
A local judge signed a removal order after authorities discovered the alleged conditions, and officials immediately removed the couple’s children and placed them with the state’s Children and Youth Services, according to police. Forensic interviews were conducted with them, but the results have not been reported. The youths currently remain in state custody.
“It is sickening,” state trooper Ally Wilson told local CBS affiliate KDKA. “That is the only word to describe it. It’s sickening.”
On Wednesday, troopers executed a search warrant at the Kahl residence and allegedly found a stun gun and surveillance camera inside, along with a “replica pistol, drugs, and drug paraphernalia,” according to PSP officials. The tipster was described as a family member close to the Kahls, though it’s unclear who.
“We are very, very happy that a family member was willing to come forward and report this to us,” Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele told KDKA. “We are very happy with our Children and Youth Services, who removed these children, and our Belle Vernon state police, that continued this investigation long after the children were removed to make the arrest that they did today.”
Aubele added, “I can’t imagine living in a household like what we saw.”
