Cops: mom left child locked in room

DEWITT, N.Y. (AP) - Police say a 3-year-old boy has been taken from a central New York home where his mother left him alone, locked in a room for as long as 22 hours a day.

DeWitt Police Sgt. Scott Kapral says 25-year-old Heather Lacey's child was found Monday, hungry and filthy in a room smeared with waste. He says child welfare workers described the smell as "unbearable."

Kapril says Lacey had been largely ignoring the boy, running errands or in apparently aimless activity, for at least four to six months. He says the child had no outward sign of injury and is now in foster care.

Lacey pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Wednesday on misdemeanor charges of unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.

DeWitt is a Syracuse suburb.