Child found tangled in cord, fence; man takes photo as 'evidence'

A man from Spokane, Washington, who heard screams as he mowed his lawn last week, followed his ears and discovered a child outside tangled in a fence and a bungee cord.

Matt Knight told KHQ-TV that his first thought was: "I need to take a picture of this."

Knight said he did so to get "evidence versus a bunch of hearsay" about what he witnessed.

The result is a picture that shows a child alone with a cord around her neck.

Knight said he yelled for someone to come out of the house. He also said "previous things had happened" at the child's home.

"That strap or bungee cord was pretty much at neck level. She was up on her feet, but she was kind of struggling around her neck," he said.

According to KHQ, police have been called to this house three times in the last month, and the first two times, children were found alone in the street.

A woman who has since identified herself to KHQ as the child's mother said the picture only showed the child getting tangled in cords. She didn't explain why the child was left outside.

Knight wants the child removed from the home by the Washington Department of Health Services, but the agency says it cannot comment on specific cases unless a child dies or nearly dies.

>> Warning: Photo in video may be considered graphic

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