The Vancouver man and woman accused of keeping two autistic boys in a caged room will be arraigned today in Clark County Superior Court on unlawful imprisonment charges.
John Eckhart, 30, and his 26-year-old girlfriend, Alayna Higdon, were arrested after the boys — ages 5 and 7 — were found April 12 in an apartment room with a cage-like door. Investigators said there were no toys in the room and that the boys shared a single mattress.
The boys are in state foster care for now. Their biological mother, Jona Bronson of Tillamook, Ore., is seeking long-term placement.
The defendants’ two other children, Higdon’s 9-year-old son and an 11-month-old boy Eckhart and Higdon have together, are staying with family members.
