Just before daylight this morning, April 6, 2009, two brothers, ages 15 and 17, managed to sneak out of their Aunt and Uncle’s home in Youngstown and reach out for help from a trusted teacher to free their sister.

Their sister, age 16, remained in the home, chained and locked in a closet.

Once school started, the two brothers went to Mosley High School and confided in a teacher who called the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The three children stated to investigators they originally came to live with their Aunt and Uncle James and Tinnea Burns of Youngstown, in October 2007, removed from their mother’s care due to abuse.

When the two oldest children confessed to having skipped school on March 18, 2009, they were all removed from school and told they would now be schooled at home. The two oldest children were chained and locked in a bathroom in the home for three days, after which time the oldest brother was allowed to return to his bedroom.

The sister was made to wear a dog collar, told that since dogs did not talk or walk on two legs she would not be allowed to speak and had to crawl on her hands and knees. In one instance she was made to eat out of a dog bowl on the floor. She was chained and locked in a closet each night where she slept on a foam mat.

James Wesley Burns, DOB 10/14/69, and Tinnea Michele Burns, DOB 12/10/75, of 6719 Oakenshaw Drive, Youngstown, have been arrested and charged with two counts of False Imprisonment and Two counts Aggravated Child Abuse.

The three children have been removed from the home and placed in the custody of DCF.