A Taylor County couple has been charged with child cruelty after investigators found they’d been locking a girl inside a chicken coop, an outhouse and a storage building for days at a time.

Diana and Samuel Franklin, of Butler, were arrested about 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to a GBI news release.

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services received information May 25 that a girl, then 15, was being abused at the Franklins’ home. Authorities visited the home and found “sufficient cause” to seek a temporary custody order, which remains in effect. The girl was taken from the home that day, according to the release.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office requested a GBI investigation. Agents served a search warrant at the house in June.

No further information about the investigation has been released, according to the GBI.

Diana Franklin, 44, is charged with 12 counts of cruelty to children and four counts of false imprisonment. Samuel Franklin, 46, is charged with eight counts of cruelty to children and eight counts of false imprisonment, according to the release.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.