FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A mother and her partner have been charged with child abuse and child cruelty after police found two kids chained by the ankle in a northern Virginia apartment.

The 47-year-old mother and 29-year old man, who live in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, told police they would chain the 9-year-old boy and his 7-year-old sibling by the ankle to “‘scare them’ so they wouldn’t leave the apartment,” according to court charging documents in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

The two were arrested Aug. 16. According to court records, the 9-year-old borrowed a cellphone from a roommate in the apartment, who is not charged. The 9-year-old used the phone to send a photo of his chained foot to an older sister, who called 911.

Police said when they knocked on the apartment door they could hear chains rattling in the apartment.

The roommate told police the two kids were routinely chained when both the 47-year-old and the 29-year-old were not home, according to a search warrant affidavit.

The boys are now in the custody of their father, who did not live in the apartment and was not charged, according to WRC-TV, which first reported on the arrests. He said his sons did not tell him when they visited him that they were being chained.

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“When I heard, I was like, ’Wow, why did this happen?’ Children don’t deserve to be treated like this. We don’t have the right to treat them like this. Maybe a criminal, but not innocent children,” he told the station in Spanish.

Last month’s arrest was not the first time the mother’s parenting drew attention from authorities. Court records show that in 2019, a then-16-year-old daughter of the mother obtained an emergency protective order, and that the mother was charged with misdemeanor assault. The disposition of that case was not clear from juvenile court records.

The public defender’s office, which represents the mother, did not immediately return a call Tuesday morning seeking comment. A phone listed for the court-appointed attorney who represents the 29-year-old man was not working Tuesday.

The mother has been released while she awaits trial. The 29-year-old man remains jailed.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2.