Inside The Dark Past Of Parents Whose Son Fell Into Cincinnati Zoo's Gorilla Pen

The parents of the 4-year-old boy who slipped into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo this weekend, leading to the killing of 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, have a lengthy criminal past, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Deonne Dickerson and Michelle Gregg have furiously defended their parenting skills since the incident, with 32-year-old Gregg writing on Facebook: "God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes... no broken bones or internal injuries."

But according to the Daily Mail, "criminal filings against Dickerson stretch over a decade and include burglary, firearms offences, drug trafficking, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and kidnap."

In more recent years, Dickerson seems to have turned his life around, working as a sorter at a Cincinnati industrial equipment supplier. Gregg currently works as the administrator for a local pre-school.

Later, Cincinnati Zoo director Thane Maynard said that though the boy was not under attack, it was a "life-threatening situation," in which the gorilla was "agitated," "disoriented," and "behaving erratically."

But in cell-phone footage capturing the scene, others noted that Harambe seemed to be guarding the little boy in the gorilla moat, even holding his hand at one point.