A man nailed his 5-year-old girl into a hidden compartment to stop officials taking her away, police say

• An Arkansas man is accused of sealing his daughter in a nailed-closed compartment in his house.
• Jon Thompson hoped to stop authorities taking custody of the five-year-old, an incident report said.

A father was arrested last week after his young child was found in a hidden compartment, police say.

It was an apparent effort to stop authorities taking the five-year-old away from the home in Tontitown, Arkansas.

Police went to the home of Jon Thompson, 40, on November 2 along with officials from the state's human-services department, according to Fox affiliate KNWA.

Thompson "had to pull a board that was nailed to the wall," to reach the girl inside a small space cut inside a closet wall, CNN cited the police reports as saying.

Thompson was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a minor and interfering with child custody, among other things, KNWA reported.

Officials and the various media reports did not name the girl.

As of Wednesday, Thompson had not been charged and was released from jail on a $5,000 bond on Sunday, according to NBC News.

When police first knocked on his door that day, Thompson wouldn't open it, saying the child wasn't there and that he had papers confirming he had legal custody of her, KNWA reported.

After he finally let them in, police heard banging, per the outlet.

Police released bodycam footage seeming to show Thompson calling "baby, baby" as he accesses the space. He moves some items out of the way and ducks under a clothes rail, saying "hey, sweetie" after a child emerges.

The girl was trapped there for about 30 minutes and was "clearly in an emotional state" after she came out, the police report said, per CNN.

"The juvenile discusses being afraid to go inside the hole in the wall but that her dad wanted her to do so and told her if she did not go inside she would be taken away from him," CNN reported, citing a police interview with the girl two days later.

Thompson admitted to hiding the girl to stop officials taking custody of her, NBC News cited the incident report as saying.

"For the record — I love my daughter," Thompson told CNN by phone. He otherwise declined to comment.

Police also suspect Thompson of possessing body armor and drug paraphernalia, KNWA reported.