ACKLEY, Iowa (AP) — A north-central Iowa man and his girlfriend have been charged with kidnapping after police say the couple tortured the man’s 8-year-old son for months by locking him in a basement enclosure for hours every day, withholding food and having a dog bite him.

The Hardin County Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday that 39-year-old Traci Lynn Tyler and 30-year-old Alex Craig Shadlow, both of Ackley, are each charged with kidnapping. An arrest affidavit says the abuse happened between July and September 2017 when the boy was locked at least 9 hours a day in an enclosed 6-foot square space under the basement stairs, where he had to sleep on concrete with no bedding and had no access to a bathroom.

Police say Tyler also beat the boy with a fly swatter handle and urged her dog to bite and attack the boy, leaving permanent scarring on his back and limbs. Authorities were alerted to the abuse by the boy’s school.