A Las Cruces couple is facing charges after police said they left an 8-year-old girl, which one suspect was in the process of adopting, locked in a homemade wooden cage in a mobile home while they went to watch a movie.

Around 7:30 p.m. Friday, police said they were dispatched to the couple's home on the 100 block of Mohawk to check on a young girl who was suspected of being left at home alone while Cindy Patriarchias and Edmond Gonzales took Patriarchias' three kids to watch a movie at Columbia Elementary School, police said.

KFOX 14 spoke with one neighbor who said he was surprised to hear the news.

"I think it was a bit ridiculous. I've been living here for about a year and a half and it's not something you expect, you know?" David Garnand said.

When they arrived, they found the mobile home dark and it appeared to be unoccupied. About an hour later, Patriarchias came home and let officers inside.

Once inside, police found a large wooden cage that had two latches and a baby mattress inside of it. The 8-year-old was found inside. The cage measured about 29 inches wide, 60 inches long and about 50 inches tall.

The girl was removed from the cage and carried outside where she was attended to by medical personnel, police said.

The young girl did not appear to have been physically injured, but detectives learned that she suffers from microcephaly, a condition where a person's head is smaller than normal.

According to police, Patriarchias insisted on leaving her soon-to-be adopted daughter home alone in the cage while her three children and boyfriend went to the school-sponsored movie.

Patriarchias' estranged husband was at the school, and he called police when he learned about the 8-year-old's condition, police said.o

Police said Patriarchias was in the process of adopting the 8-year-old.

School officials said Patriarchais was a lunch monitor at Columbia Elementary school, and she is no longer employed at the school effective immediately.

Patriarchias, 33, was charged with one count of negligently causing child abuse, and Gonzales, 37, was charged with one count of negligently permitting child abuse. They were both booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with cash-only bail set at $25,000 each.

Children Youth and Families department told KFOX 14 the woman's children are all in state protective custody until its, and police's, investigation is complete.