American parents of Wyoming charged with torture, child abuse allegedly forcing kids to eat dog food.

Kris and Allan Jones of Wyoming charged Friday Feb. 23, for child abuse, torture of their three adopted children

By Edward Era Barbacena 

Two Wyoming parents were charged with child abuse Friday in what the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office alleges was torture that went on for over a decade.

Kris and Alan Jones were both arraigned on three counts of torture and three counts of child abuse. The judge denied bond.

The couple's three adopted children endured the alleged torture and abuse beginning in 2013, according to court documents.

The children were forced to sleep in the garage in all weather elements, the documents reveal. Kris would remove the carpet from the stairs so the children had to sleep on concrete.

When the children were fed, documents said they were placed in a dog collar, forced to eat dog food with milk and oatmeal with hot sauce.

One of the children caught eating food from the trash at school because she wasn’t being fed at home, court documents read.

The kids were pushed down the stairs, held down, punched and even choked, according to court records.

“Very often in any type of child abuse, child sexual abuse its usually someone close to them, it is a parent, it’s a caregiver, its a relative," Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said.

When they acted out, the parents allegedly made them run miles as punishment.

A neighbor close to the Hickory Ridge home, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she saw the kids taking laps around the house frequently and thought it was strange.

There's oftentimes a delayed response when kids report abuse, Becker said.

“It’s that relationship of trust that has been violated and then it puts that child in a situation where what do they do and it is very difficult for them to come forward," Becker said.

A primary care provider came forward with the abuse in 2017, reporting neglect and saying Kris and Alan Jones were not responding appropriately to the proper care plan.

Torture is an rare charge, Becker said, not seeing more than five cases a year.

“It requires a specific intent to cause an extreme physical abuse or mental harm so that specific intent factor is a very high level so it is difficult to prove," Becker said. “It's much more than trying to do something bad, its next level.”

Several Child Protective Services complaints allege there were signs of physical and mental abuse.

Kris allegedly did not cooperate with CPS or allowed workers to speak with the kids.

A CPS referral was never made, according to court records.

The children's weight and heights were reported under the 4th percentile of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth guide.