These 5 stories were last week’s most read (plus some other stories you need to read)

Some dark and terrifying stories were among last week’s most read.

1. Child assault charges filed against Lacey daycare employee: An employee of a Lacey child care center is charged with third-degree child assault after she allegedly pushed a 4-year-old boy’s head into a sleeping cot.

2. Mask-wearing man emerges from closet while west Olympia family was home: Olympia police are looking for a masked man who emerged from a closet and surprised a west Olympia family Sunday night, a spokesman for the department said Monday.

3. Man found dead near Thurston County park: Thurston County Sheriff's officials are investigating a suspected homicide after a man was found dead Friday near Tumwater.

4. Her kids were locked in filthy cages. They hissed as social workers freed them: When social workers arrived, they found a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old trapped in two separate lice-infested cribs, with lids on top that had been screwed in to create makeshift cages.

5. Gang leader raped and prostituted 15, police say. Some girls were as young as 13: He raped and prostituted underage girls, threatened to kill mothers and their babies and trained little boys how to be gang members.

And some stories you need to read: One about Evergreen, another about last winter’s warming center and one more about the new community care center.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "These 5 stories were last week’s most read (plus some other stories you need to read)."