‘The definition of child torture’: 3 family members charged after kids kept locked in car seat, cage

YORK COUNTY, Pa. (TCN) -- The mother, grandmother, and uncle of two children found tortured in their home have been taken into custody and jailed, according to court records.

On Feb. 25, Ashley Cardona, 31, and Lori Cardona, 51, were each arrested and charged with aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of children, and criminal conspiracy, the Newberry Township Police Department announced.

Michael Cardona, 27, was arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy to commit unlawful restraint, criminal conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, and endangering the welfare of children.

According to police, the investigation began in March 2024, when the girl was 5 and the boy was 6, Law & Crime reports. WHP reports hospital staff called police on March 19, 2024, regarding two children who had been taken into emergency protection. The caller said one child was forced to sit in a car seat for 20 hours a day and the other was malnourished and lived in a crate or cage 24 hours a day. 

Police executed a search warrant at the children’s home a few days later, WHP reports. According to charging documents obtained by the outlet, responding officers found a crib that had been turned into a “cage-like structure, incorporating external locking mechanisms.”

Michael Cardona allegedly told officers he had helped build the structure by stacking a second crib upside down on top of the lower crib. The carpet in the structure smelled of urine and it was suspected that feces was caked on the railing.

According to WHP, police say child services had conducted multiple home visits in the past before they received the call from health care providers at the hospital in March 2024. Agency staff had noted the children were confined in restraints for long periods of time. 

WHP reports that charging documents allege, “Both children had reportedly not left the home in approximately two years and had not received routine medical or dental care since 2019.”

The girl was not toilet-trained, had 16 cavities, limited mobility, and limited range of motion in her neck, WHP reports. Health care providers attributed the musculoskeletal findings to prolonged time restrained in a car seat. Law & Crime reports an older child in the home allegedly told police Ashley Cardona hated the younger children and did not care what happened to them.

“The victims in this case sustained substantial physical and mental harm,” the police department’s press release read. “Furthermore, it was determined by a physician and member of the Child Protective Team at Penn State Health that the totality of the circumstances in this case meet the definition of child torture.”

On July 9, 2025, both children were removed from the home and improved rapidly, WHP reports. As a result of the investigation, the police department filed charges against Lori, Ashley, and Michael Cardona. 

Explaining the length of time between the discovery of the children’s condition and the charging of their family members, WGAL reports that York County District Attorney Tim Barker said, “Since the children were safe, we had the ability where we did not need to press forward prematurely without the full scope of information.”

WGAL spoke to Richard Cardona, the grandfather of the children, who is estranged from his ex-wife, Lori Cardona, and children, Ashley and Michael Cardona. He told the outlet, “I found out there were charges because the police had me come into Newberry Police Department and give my statement of what I saw.”

He further described the home and said he was appalled by the living conditions. “When I saw his hand sticking out of the cage ... I had to hug him,” he said.

Richard Cardona said he immediately called CPS. The children are now reportedly in foster care, but WGAL reports Richard Cardona and his wife, Ruth Cordero, are seeking custody of them. “I don't wish that upon nobody. Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody deserves to be treated like that, let alone the child,” he said. 

Lori, Ashley, and Michael Cardona remain behind bars in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to WHP.

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