KNOXVILLE, TN (Story courtesy of WVLT) – Two people have been charged after a child told authorities he would allegedly get locked in a dog kennel for misbehaving and get hit with a metal pole.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said 911 received a report Tuesday morning about two small children standing in the wood line in the 3000 block of Clear Springs Road at around 7:23 a.m.

Deputies responded to the area and saw the two kids walking around the road without an adult. They determined the children, both of whom were around six years old, lived at a nearby home with 27-year-old Jason Hoffer and 28-year-old Amber Hoffer.

According to warrants obtained by WVLT News, one of the children had severe bruising on his leg, and they both told deputies they were hungry and had not eaten.

Deputies went to the home, and during the investigation, detectives determined there were seven children living there in “very deplorable and uninhabitable conditions.” The warrant said there was trash all over the floor and feces smeared on the walls and in the bathroom sink. Additionally, there was no running water in the home.

The children, all aged between one-month-old and seven-years-old, were taken to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital for evaluation.

While at the hospital, the warrant said DCS and deputies spoke to the children. One of the children said Jason would keep him in a “cage” in the middle of the living room if he got in trouble and padlock it. He would also allegedly hit the child with a metal pole through the cage. That child, authorities said, had “severe welts” on his hip and bruises on his buttocks and shoulders that “appear to have been from an assault.”

The child said he escaped the cage that morning and told another child to leave the home with him, leading to them being found near the road, the warrant said.

Authorities went back to the home, according to the warrant, and found the metal dog kennel. There were no pets living inside or outside the home.

Jason Hoffer was charged with one count of child endangerment and one count of aggravated child abuse (Haley’s Law). Amber Hoffer was charged with two counts of child endangerment. They are being held at the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility.

DCS removed the children from the home, KCSO said.

The investigation remains active and ongoing.