Sammie Hodges
Sammie Hodges Cache County Sheriff's Office

A Utah man was charged with child abuse Tuesday after he allegedly chained his 6-year-old son to a metal bed frame.

Sammie Hodges, 28, of Logan, allegedly chained the child before leaving for work, the Logan Police Department told Fox 13 in Salt Lake City.

Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen told the Associated Press that the chain was “just long enough” so that the boy could go to the bathroom and that the child had access to snacks and water.

Hodges is facing four counts of child abuse after being booked into the Cache County Jail. He was arrested Tuesday following an anonymous tip that he was chaining his 6-year-old son while he went to work, the Deseret News reported. Officers acting on the tip found the boy chained by his ankle to the metal bed frame around 11 a.m. Tuesday local time, according to the newspaper.

Officers are trying to determine how often the child was being chained. Jensen said the boy “appears relatively healthy, albeit that’s going to mess with your head.”

“But from a physical perspective, he appears to be healthy,” the police chief said.

Besides Hodges, the boy lives with an adult woman “who has no biological connection to the boy,” the Deseret News reported. Neighbors said they wished they picked up on cues that something was wrong at the home.

“We didn’t look close enough at the signs,” neighbor Maura Blair said.

The child was put into the custody of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.

Cache County Sheriff's Office records showed Hodges was given $7,800 bail, but it's unclear whether he paid the sum.