A suburban Des Moines couple is under arrest after their adopted teenage children reported being locked in the basement and fed under a locked door as punishment.

The father and mother, identified by The Des Moines Register as Paul Alan Drake, 45, and JoAnn Marie Drake, 44, are charged with false imprisonment and neglect or abandonment of a dependent person.

The Iowa Human Services Department says it removed the 13-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy from the home in Ankeny after one of them told a school employee about their confinement.

Police say the children reported being locked in the basement after school and on weekends for three to four weeks as punishment.

The police chief in Ankeny was not available to speak to The Associated Press early Thursday.