Boy, 10, rescued from squalid bedroom

He had been locked in a rubbish-strewn house in Canada for two years and forced to survive on fast food.

But when the malnourished 10-year-old was rescued, he told the police that what he wanted was normal food and to go to school.

The boy, who the police said had been locked in a squalid bedroom for at least 18 months and was wearing urine-soaked pyjamas when they found him last Friday, is now in foster care. The house was in the city of London, in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Ms Jane Fitzgerald, executive director of Ontario's Children's Aid Society of London and Middlesex, told Canadian news website CBC News: "The fact that the first thing he wanted was to go to school, I think, is a very positive sign that this is a child with resilience."

The boy is now with caregivers who specialise in looking after children who have been traumatised.

"He's sleeping well, eating well (and) he's interacting with some of the other children in the foster home."

"There was a window in the room, so I think that's how he was, at least, somewhat connected to the world," Ms Fitzgerald said.

"In the bedroom, there were faeces, urine. The bed was soaked in urine, as was the child's pyjamas when he was found," said the police.

FILTHY CONDITIONS

The police said the boy was found in a locked master bedroom "living in filthy conditions".

The bedroom had an en suite bathroom, so the boy had access to a toilet and shower, reported Canada's National Post

The boy was fed fast food twice a day, but not usually permitted to leave the room.

The police suspect the boy may have been let out of the room briefly last year.

The boy's aunt and uncle have been charged with failing to provide the necessities of life and forcible confinement.

The two also have a nine-year-old daughter in the care of the Children's Aid Society.

The names of the two children are being withheld to protect their identities.

Ms Fitzgerald said the girl is doing well and "also socialising with the other children in her foster home".

The police said the boy had lived with his aunt and uncle since going to Canada in 2010.

They said that his parents live outside the country and they have been unable to contact them.

Neighbours expressed shock at the news, with one saying: "I felt so sad because I walk by the house every day. The little boy could have been waving for help and I didn't know."

This article was first published on June 2, 2014.
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