CLEVES, Ohio — A man is facing child endangerment charges after prosecutors say he locked a 2-year-old child with special needs in a bedroom for hours while he went to work.
According to court documents, Joshua Merz is accused of leaving his child "unattended and uncared for for a period of approximately eight hours."
The child was found by a neighbor, who discovered the child was in an upstairs bedroom with the door closed and locked, court documents say. The child was completely alone in the home at the time, prosecutors say.
The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office said the incident happened on April 8. When Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the home, prosecutors said they found it "in a condition they described as filthy and potentially dangerous."
If convicted, Merz could spend up to 3 1/2 years in prison. He was given a bond of $25,000, of which he had to pay 10%. He is not currently lodged in the Hamilton County Justice Center.
