Parents injected their three children with heroin' and called it 'sleeping juice

Two parents have been accused of injecting their three young children with heroin to put them to sleep in a home filled with rat droppings and drug needles.

Ashlee Hutt, 24, and boyfriend Leroy McIver, 25, allegedly told the children - girls aged 2 and 4 and a boy aged 6 - that they were being injected with "sleeping juice" or "feel good medicine".

Investigators said they found puncture marks and bruising consistent with needle injections on the children's bodies after they were removed from the home.

Tests allegedly found low levels of what was believed to be heroin in two of the children, while the third child tested negative.

Hutt and McIver were arrested after someone called Child Protective Services claiming they saw her inject her children with a drug at her home in Spanaway in the US state of Washington, the TV station Kiro 7 reported.

Hutt and McIver were interviewed by CPS and admitted to being heroin addicts and talked about other people at their house using heroin, the News Tribune reported.

The children were removed from the home in November 2015 while child welfare officials investigated claims against the couple.