Naked Pennsylvania boy, 5, escapes hell house after spending most of his life locked inside a disgusting room

Three charged with child endangerment after boy found in road.

At around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, July 10, troopers from Pennsylvania State Police’s Jonestown station responded to reports of a “male child found naked walking in the middle of the road,” according to a public information release report.

According to police, bystanders remained with the child until troopers and emergency medical personnel arrived.

The boy was transported to WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital for a medical evaluation.

Officers identified a rundown home a few blocks away from where he was discovered as they uncovered a nightmarish hell hole.

“Hoarder conditions were observed throughout the house, with trash throughout, hundreds of flies observed, and limited room for maneuvering the house because of the influx of clutter,” the public information release report said.

A naked five-year-old boy escaped from a home in Swatara Township, Penn. on July 10, 2026. Google Maps

One of three individuals who were arrested following the child’s discovery, Jade Shuey, 21, said that the young boy was usually fed through the gate and occasionally went longer than a week without a bath, WGAL reported, citing an affidavit.

Shuey told police that the boy could spend up to three days inside the room without being let out, forcing the boy to relieve himself inside the confines of the cell and spreading the excrement around the walls.

Also, according to WGAL, above the baby gate, police said there were “miscellaneous wood boards drilled into the outside of the door frame to prevent the male child from escaping the bedroom.”

“Feces was observed to be smeared on the walls, feces smeared on the bedroom window, a bed was observed to be torn apart with food all over it, trash was observed on the floor, hundreds of flies flying around the bedroom and the residence, along with various children’s toys scattered throughout,” per the public information release report.

Officers pinpointed that the child came from a rundown home a few blocks away from where he was discovered as they uncovered a nightmarish hell hole. Google Maps

Officers learned that the boy spent about 90 percent of his time locked inside the boarded-up room, where he was fed granola bars, cereal, juice, milk, and water through the slots of the baby gates, WGAL reported.

Another one of those arrested told officers that, for the boy to be released from the room, the adults would have to cut five to 10 zip ties off the gates, and then the gates would be put back in place with new ties and duct tape each time.

The ghastly conditions inside the home, including the unsanitary state throughout, led town code enforcement to condemn it.

State police said Jade Shuey, 21, Stephanie Schaffner, 42, and Tucker Heagy, 20, were taken into custody. It is unclear how the child is related to the adults.

Each is charged with one third-degree felony count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Bail was set at $500,000 each for Shuey and Schaffner. Heagy’s bail was set at $250,000.

All three were committed to Lebanon County Prison after they were unable to post bail.

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