Leona Biser claimed that she was caring for her sister in their Pennsylvania home but, according to the state’s Attorney General, she was essentially torturing her by keeping her caged inside a nightmarish house not fit for anyone to live in.
The 51-year-old Biser was arrested this month and appeared in court Friday on neglect and false imprisonment-related charges, after authorities discovered her 53-year-old sister, Loretta Lancaster, in a man-made wooden cage with a dirty mattress in the living room of the Pennsylvania city house. The AG also said that the home had no running water, and Lancaster wasn’t getting her prescribed medications.
According to WPXI, the process of getting Lancaster out of the cage was a long one. Adult Protective Services visited the home in August 2019 and found her in deplorable conditions. The agent didn’t return until Nov. 1, when he brought a doctor and determined that Lancaster couldn’t walk. Finally, on Nov. 22, the AG’s office got involved and sent an ambulance to take her to the hospital.
Police said that there were so much dog feces on the kitchen floor that they couldn’t get to the microwave, sink or stove, according to WPXI. The house had no bathroom, and they also found bugs swarming in a bedroom, and a shed snakeskin on the floor.
Lancaster had been living with her mother, family members told WPXI, but she recently died. The nephew of both women, Anthony Gilpin, said that Lancaster had the mental capacity of an infant. She couldn’t communicate or use the bathroom by herself, he said, and the cage was more for her own safety so she didn’t hurt herself.
“I don’t want to believe it’s true,” he said of the situation. “Sometimes, people try to do what’s best and take on too much and don’t realize what they’re doing until it’s too late.”
Lancaster was treated at the hospital for a urinary tract infection and a breakdown of muscle caused by infection, according to the AG’s release. They say that her condition has improved, and she has regained some mobility and is working with a speech therapist.
“We fight to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” AG Josh Shapiro said in a statement. “And our agents have made sure the victim has received needed care and will no longer have to suffer daily living in a cage.”
