Parents accused of forcing kids into plastic boxes

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio couple were charged this week with punishing their three children by forcing them into plastic boxes sealed with duct tape and only a square cut in the top for air.

The children, ages 5, 6 and 8, were crammed into the boxes as punishment June 16 at the family home in Steubenville while the parents went to the grocery store and left two uncles at home with them, a prosecutor said. A friend of the family arrived at the house, got the children out of the boxes and contacted police.