Police accused a Lancaster city couple Tuesday of imprisoning their five adopted children and two adults under their care in the squalid basement of their St. Joseph Street home.

The children and adults, five of whom have mental or physical disabilities, were kept in the unsanitary basement with little food for a two-month period last year, according to police.

 James and Stephanie Dickinson, of 406-408 St. Joseph St., face numerous charges, including false imprisonment.

 According to court documents, the children, all of whom are boys, would leave the basement only to attend church and school.

 The children and two adult women, for whom the Dickinsons were "primary care providers," dined alone in the basement on "meals" that included peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast and something called "doggie dew stew," according to court documents.

One of the boys, who is 14, was confined for 22 hours at a time in a 4-foot-by-5-foot-by-6-foot hand-crafted cement-block cell that his parents called the "toy room." The "room" had no lights, ventilation, food or water, according to court documents.

The other boys, who are 5, 11, 13 and 14, were sometimes locked in the "toy room" as punishment.

Mrs. Dickinson, 57, would enter the basement only to do laundry and wash the women's hair, and sometimes left the victims alone for days at a time, according to court documents.

Mr. Dickinson, 61, would rarely go into the basement at all.

The five children and two adults have been in foster care since police raided the home Oct. 31.

Responding to a tip from a neighbor, three officers entered the basement that day and found the individuals living in dire conditions.

After an 11-month investigation, police charged the Dickinsons Tuesday with more than a dozen felonies and misdemeanors.

"Initially, it would have been simple to file some charges based on what the officers saw," Lancaster city police Sgt. Bill Gleason said. "But, once we had the victims safe, there was no need to rush it."

The Dickinsons were arrested without incident Tuesday at their places of employment.

Each was charged with a felony count of false imprisonment, five felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child and seven misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment.

Mrs. Dickinson also was charged with intimidating a witness or victim, a second-degree felony. Police allege she told one of the boys to give misleading testimony during a civil court hearing.

She told the boy "he needed to make things right and that if the family got broken up, that it would be his fault and that he would have to deal with that weight on his shoulders," according to court documents.

If convicted, the Dickinsons face maximum sentences of more than 50 years in prison.

They also face large fines that could include the compensation they received from the county as caretakers of the children and adults.

According to court documents, the couple received subsidies of $9,000 per month for "the care and well-being" of the children and adults.

When police raided the home in October, the basement reeked of urine and feces, according to court documents, and medication for the victims was found on a countertop next to mouse poison.

A refrigerator was kept in the basement, but it contained little edible food, usually just a nutritional supplement called "Boost," according to court documents.

The individuals used a "potty chair" — a hospital-style portable toilet — and cleaned their own waste from it, according to court documents.

A sink the victims used for drinking water also was used by Mrs. Dickinson to wash the women's hair. The boys were rarely bathed, and two of them slept on the floor, according to court documents.

The victims were allowed to watch television or listen to the radio only if a religious program was being broadcast, according to court documents.

During the October raid, Officer Jason Drouilliard found the 14-year-old boy locked in the "toy room" after the officer was told by another of the boys that the space was used for "storage," according to court documents.

Drouilliard unlocked the door and found the boy inside on his knees, with his arms above his head on a wall.

All the boy had with him in the "room" was a blanket, according to court documents.

When Drouilliard asked one of the boys why someone was in there, he replied, "That's where he stays."

The Dickinsons adopted the five boys beginning in 1998, according to documents.

The couple began taking care of the women, who are 53 and 56, in 1992.

The family moved to St. Joseph Street in August 2006, investigators said.

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com