A 14-year-old girl was imprisoned, starved, and sexually abused by her adoptive parents, Alan and Aimee Friz (pictured). The girl and her siblings were homeschooled.

The girl and one of her siblings were adopted from the Ukraine; the Frizes later had eight additional biological children and Aimee Friz was pregnant when she was arrested. Alan Friz was a dentist and the Frizes were “respected and well-loved” members of Covenant Reformed Church in Evansville, Indiana; according to their minister they had “a very definite 19th century value system”. The girl allegedly had developmental disabilities, although the Frizes “diagnosed her online without ever seeking the advice of a doctor”. Beginning at least a year before his arrest, Alan Friz sexually molested the girl, apparently with the knowledge of Aimee Friz. In September 2017, after the girl allegedly made threats of violence against Aimee, the Frizes began locking the girl in a closet at night without access to food, water, or bathroom facilities. The closet “was fastened with a padlock and chain” and had a sign labeling it as the girl’s “cage”.

The abuse came to light after the girl and her grandfather got into an altercation and the police were called. The girl reported the abuse during a subsequent interview with child services and Alan Friz was immediately arrested. Aimee Friz fled the state with her children but was arrested shortly thereafter. The Frizes’ boarder Kenneth Le Fevre was also arrested. The Frizes were charged with criminal confinement, neglect, and sexual misconduct.

Date: October 4, 2017
Location: Huntingburg, Indiana

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A 12-year-old boy was starved, imprisoned, and tortured by his mother, Brandy Kay Jaynes (pictured). The boy’s father, Russell Orin Jaynes, allegedly did not know about the abuse because he was not often at home and was barred by his wife from seeing the boy. The boy’s twin sister and a younger sibling attended school and were not reported to be abused. The boy was homeschooled.

The boy was pulled out of second grade to be homeschooled in 2012. Jaynes claimed this was due to the boy’s special needs, but state investigators dispute this claim, stating that “he had been caught stealing and was falling behind in classwork because of excessive absences.” Instead of receiving instruction at home, the boy was imprisoned and tortured for four to eight years. At first the boy was imprisoned in a bare bedroom and tortured by having ice water poured on him during the winter. Then he was imprisoned in a stand-up shower, and eventually in a tiny locked bathroom where the light switches and shower drain were covered with duct tape. Jaynes also kept a live video feed of the boy’s condition in the bathroom, where the only place not covered in feces was the place where he lay on a blanket. The boy only received “one meal of a couple of hot dogs every other day for months.” The boy weighed 30 pounds when he was rescued and had, as a result of the abuse, “emotional/developmental delays and the protracted loss of use of his limbs.”

The abuse came to light when the boy’s father “picked the lock on the bathroom door when his wife was gone” and discovered the boy’s condition. Russell Jaynes “drove around for hours, checking into a hotel and bathing his son, and then went to his father’s house in Cedar City asking what he should do before taking the boy to the hospital.” Brandy Jaynes was found guilty of child abuse and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Russell Jaynes was also charged with child abuse.

Date: January 8, 2017
Location: Toquerville, Utah

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Liam Michael Roberts (pictured), age 6, was starved to death by his father, Michael Roberts, and his stepmother Georgena Roberts. Liam’s 7-year-old brother A.P.R. was also starved. Their two siblings and two half-siblings were not reported to be abused. Liam and his siblings were homeschooled, while his older half-siblings attended school.

Neighbors reported that the Robertses kept to themselves and did not play with other neighborhood children. Beginning in December 2015, the Robertses began to use food deprivation as a form of punishment for Liam and A.P.R. In January 2016, social services investigated the family for insufficient food, but a pediatrician “concluded that [Liam’s] low body weight was due to a medical issue” and the case was closed. Liam and his siblings were subsequently withdrawn from school to be homeschooled. Liam weighed 17 pounds when he died in November 2017.

The abuse came to light when Michael Roberts brought Liam’s body to the hospital, where he was declared dead. A.P.R. was subsequently hospitalized. The Robertses were charged with murder and child endangerment.

Date: November 3, 2017
Location: Jerseyville, Indiana

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Thirteen children–ten girls and three boys, ages 2 to 29–were starved and imprisoned by their parents, David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin. The children were homeschooled.

The Turpins moved from Texas to California around 2010 and registered their homeschool as Sandcastle Day School in 2011. Neighbors did not know how many children lived there because they rarely saw them. When the children were rescued, only six of them were still minors–Sandcastle listed its enrollment as: “one student in each of the fifth, sixth, eighth, nine, 10th and 12th grades.” However, all of the Turpins’ children, even the adults, were malnourished, and some were “shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings.”

The abuse came to light when the Turpins’ 17-year-old daughter escaped from the home and called 911 on her parents’ cell phone. All thirteen of the Turpins’ children were hospitalized and the Turpins were charged with torture and child endangerment.

Date: January 14, 2018
Location: Perris, California

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At least 16 children, but probably many more, were subjected to slavery, educational neglect, and threats of physical violence and starvation by members of a new religious movement known as the McCollum Ranch group, run by minister John C. McCollum. The group claimed to be homeschooling the children, though no education was actually provided.

McCollum has operated the group, previously known as the Holy Tabernacle Church of Fayetteville, since the 1980s. In 1991 he pleaded guilty to child abuse after being charged “with beating children with an automotive fan belt so severely that it left scars;” the same year, two of his followers, Irish Williams and Shirley McNatt, were also convicted of abusing then-9-year-old Shirmitka McNatt. No children were apparently removed. After the group moved to Godwin in the mid-1990s, officials visited their compound to investigate child abuse claims at least four times. In 2008, a mentally disabled 21-year-old man escaped from the compound and claimed to have been kidnapped; no charges were filed.

The children in McCollum’s group were kept in involuntary servitude and forced to perform heavy labor for little to no pay for more than 40 hours per week in McCollum’s fish markets in Fayetteville. The children “often injured themselves while cutting fish for sale in the market.” If the children refused to work, McCallum “would threaten them with physical violence or take away their food.” Tobias Gardner, who lived at McCollum Ranch as a teenager from 1993 to 1997, reported that he was attending school when he first lived there but eventually stopped, instead working in the fish market. Gardner “witnessed McCollum beating children for slight infractions, which could be anything from getting up to go to the bathroom during a worship service to talking back to adults.”

Furthermore, McCallum Ranch member Brenda Joyce Hall operated a fraudulent homeschool, Halls of Knowledge Home School, which provided no education to the compound’s children: many of them “had difficulty reading and writing.” The school did, however, “create fraudulent high school transcripts so young members can get into online degree programs and apply for financial aid, which is then diverted to the group’s operations.”

The abuse finally came to light in February 2017, when a couple living at McCallum Ranch went to police with a complaint about child slavery. On March 2, 2017, a victim of the homeschool financial aid scam came forward to report it. On August 10, 2017, a 15-year-old boy who worked at the Ranch was reported missing by his mother, a member of the group. After police located the boy, he reported “how he and his 13-year-old brother were forced to work in the fish markets for more than 40 hours a week.” Social services went to the compound in October and found that many of the children had been removed to other locations to avoid investigators. On December 12, McCollum and nine of his associates–Hall, Williams, Shirley McNatt, Shirnitka McNatt, Cornelia McDonald, Pamela Puga Luna, Daffene Edge, Kassia Rogers, and Earlene Hayat–were charged with a variety of crimes including human trafficking. Investigators noted that several of those charged, including Shirnitka McNatt, had previously been victims and were now perpetrators.

Date: December 12, 2017
Location: Godwin, North Carolina

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A 6-year-old boy was starved, imprisoned, and tortured by his father, Melvin W. Bledsoe, and his stepmother Joy Tamika Anderson. The boy’s three stepsiblings were not reported to be abused. The boy was homeschooled.

Bledsoe and Anderson were half-siblings. In 2012, Bledsoe and the boy were living with Anderson, her husband, and her three children. Bledsoe slapped the boy, then nine months old, and the boy was briefly removed by child services. Bledsoe pleaded guilty to felony injury of a child after Anderson testified against him. A neighbor witnessed the boy being abused in 2015 and alerted child services, but they did not find enough evidence to remove the boy. By 2017, Bledsoe and Anderson were living together as a couple and abusing the boy together. They tied him face-down to a bed with ropes. Bledsoe threw him against a wall and beat him with a belt; Anderson beat him with a coat hanger and stomped on his belly, causing his pancreas to rupture in half. When he was rescued, the boy “had scars and scabs all over his body…several fresh wounds, dried blood on his body, ulcers on his legs and a cauliflower ear.” He had recently eaten a pillow due to hunger.

The abuse came to light in October 2017 after Bledsoe and Anderson brought the boy to the hospital because his “lips were turning blue and his stomach was bloating” due to the ruptured pancreas. Bledsoe and Anderson were charged with felony injury to a child.

Date: October 8, 2017
Location: Post Falls, Idaho

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Nineteen children were starved, tortured, and imprisoned by their father, Mansa Musa Muhummed. Muhummed’s three wives—Marva Barfield, Laura Cowan, and Adrienne Easter—were also sexually assaulted, beaten, and imprisoned; Barfield participated in the children’s abuse at Muhummed’s instruction, and Cowan has also been accused of participating in the abuse. The children included Delmarcus (b. 1974), Marlon (b. 1980), Sharon (b. 1981; pictured), Michael (b. 1982), Curtis (b. 1983), C. (b. 1989), Felicia, and Tiffany Boddie (Muhummed’s children with Barfield; 14 in total); Ahmed (b. 1992) and Maryam (b. 1994) (Cowan’s children from a previous marriage), a daughter born to Cowan and Muhummed; and Abdullah and Jada (Easter’s children). The children were homeschooled.

Muhummed and Barfield married in 1973 in Virginia; they had 12 children when they moved to California in 1985. Two more were born shortly thereafter. In 1988, when Sharon was in second grade, she was removed from school to be homeschooled “because she kept running away and teachers no longer wanted her there because she stole other children’s lunches.” Some of the younger children were never sent to school at all. When she was rescued at age 18, Sharon couldn’t read. In 1995, Muhummed married Cowan and added her children to the family. In 1998, he married Easter and added her children to the family. The family moved several times within California.

Muhummed starved the children for days at a time and forced them to eat their own vomit and feces when they “stole” food. He kept locks on the refrigerator and cabinets. He beat them, forced them to beat each other, smashed their toes with a hammer, and hung them upside down. He forced them to stand naked in cold water for hours and denied them use of a bathroom for weeks. He imprisoned Cowan, Easter, and their children in the garage. When the children were injured, Muhummed denied them medical attention. Marlon Boddie “said he once smashed a bottle against his head in order to get sent to a hospital and out of the house.” “When police found Sharon Boddie in 1999, she was 18 years old, weighed 48 pounds and stood barely 4 feet tall. Her older brother Marlon weighed 53 pounds. Another brother, Curtis, 16, weighed 42 pounds.”

In early 1999, a social worker spoke to the children, but they were frightened of Muhummed and did not disclose the abuse. The abuse finally came to light when Cowan slipped a note about the abuse to a postal worker, who alerted the authorities. Barfield pleaded guilty to child endangerment in a deal to testify against Muhummed. She served 17 months in prison. “At least two of [Muhummed’s] older daughters and one wife became involved in polygamous marriages again.” Muhummed was sentenced to life in prison.

Date: April 6, 1999
Location: Aguanga, California

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Six children–Markis, 19; Hannah, 16; Devonte, 15; Jeremiah, 14; Abigail, 14; and Sierra, 12–were starved and abused by their adoptive parents, Jennifer and Sarah Hart. The children were homeschooled.

Siblings Markis, Abigail, and Hannah were adopted from Colorado County, Texas in September 2006. Siblings Devonte, Jeremiah, and Sierra were adopted from Harris County, Texas in February 2009. In November 2010, the Harts lived in Alexandria, Minnesota, where Abigail (then age 6) attended Woodland Elementary School. Abigail reported to a teacher that her mother Jennifer had hit her, deprived her of food, and shoved her face underwater. Abigail showed the teacher her bruises, and the teacher called the authorities. When the Harts were interviewed, Sarah Hart confessed to beating Abigail, saying she “let her anger get out of control.” Sarah Hart pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, although the sentence was suspended. According to the investigating officer, the Harts “didn’t like the school or that the police intervened, and they certainly didn’t like the outcome.” Shortly after this incident, the Harts moved their family to West Linn, Washington, and began homeschooling the children.

The Harts were active in liberal activist causes in their local community. In 2014, Devonte became famous for a viral photo taken of him hugging a police officer, and the Harts joined presidential candidate Bernie Sanders onstage during a 2016 rally in Vancouver. Around February 2017, uncomfortable with the media attention they had received, the family moved again to Woodland, Washington. One neighbor reported the children rarely left home and were not allowed to eat sugar. Another neighbor, Dana Dekalb, reported the children looked thin and small. According to Dekalb, one of the Hart girls had asked for help because she was afraid to go home. In another incident in May 2017, one of the Hart girls showed up at Dekalb’s door in the middle of the night, asking Dekalb to take her away to Seattle and saying “Don’t make me go back” to her home. In March 2018, Devonte began to make regular visits to the Dekalbs’ home, asking every day for food because his parents were withholding food as punishment. He asked Dekalb not to tell his mom. Concerned, Dekalb called child services on March 23. Social workers visited the same day, but the Harts did not answer the door. Hours later, the family piled into their car and left home. On March 26, Jennifer Hart drove their car off a cliff in California, killing herself, Sarah, Markis, Jeremiah, and Abigail. The other children are believed to have been killed as well. Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash.

Date: March 26, 2018
Location: Woodland, Washington

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Matthew Tirado, age 17, was starved to death by his mother, Katiria Tirado. Matthew’s 9-year-old sister was also physically abused. Both children were homeschooled.

Matthew was born in 1999 when Tirado was just 16; Matthew’s father, Pedro Gomez, was 34 years older than Tirado and did not live with the family. Matthew was autistic and intellectually disabled, and received special education services in Hartford Public Schools. Tirado began abusing him at least as early as 2005, when the first CPS investigation occurred on his behalf. Between 2010 and 2014, Matthew was withdrawn from school for months and years at a time, seeing a doctor only once in 2011. In August 2013, Matthew’s sister was enrolled in public school; in October 2014 she reported her mother had physically abused her and Matthew, and Tirado was placed on the state child abuse registry. At this time Hartford Public Schools reported Matthew’s long absence to CPS and he was enrolled in Oak Hill School, “a private, state-approved special education program that delivers services to children,” in December 2014. Though he remained enrolled until his death in 2017, he attended less than 100 days of school during this time. According to Tirado’s friends and neighbors, she claimed to be homeschooling Matthew. He last attended school in January 2016. Matthew’s sister was withdrawn from school to be homeschooled in November 2016 after Tirado was charged with educational neglect for failing to send her to school as well. Tirado’s mother, one of Matthew’s primary caregivers, died in mid-2016. Matthew’s father last saw him in August 2016.

Tirado kept the cabinets and refrigerator locked, and beat Matthew when he tried to sneak food. When he died, Matthew weighed 88 pounds and had “broken ribs, a laceration to his head, several contusions and bedsore-type injuries to his buttocks, and severe malnutrition.” A few days before his death, Tirado held a party at her house, where relatives remarked on Matthew’s thinness; Tirado claimed he had a “fast metabolism.” Texts between Tirado and a relative show she knew he needed medical attention, but chose not to seek it because of fears of CPS. The abuse came to light in February 2017 when Matthew’s condition worsened and Tirado took him to the hospital. He died a few hours later. Tirado pleaded guilty to manslaughter and faces up to 11 years in prison.

Date: February 14, 2017
Location: Hartford, Connecticut

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Six children—five boys, ages 16, 15, 14, 14, and 12; and a 13-year-old girl—were tortured and starved by their adoptive parents, Timothy and Barbara Krause. The children were homeschooled, although according to investigators they were at least two years behind in their studies.

The abuse began in 2011. The children were all forced to sleep in one bedroom, some of them without beds. They were beaten with a variety of objects, leaving bruises and scars and in one case an abscess the child had to lance himself. They were threatened with guns and axes; “the 12-year-old said that his mother threatened to shoot him if he touched the phone after he called police to report abuse.” The Krauses used racial slurs against the children and trained their dogs to attack the children during the beatings. Several of the children had scars from untreated dog bites. The children were also forced to do extreme exercise as punishment and to hold stress positions for long periods of time, and they “were only fed eggs and water for weeks at a time.”

The Krauses were charged with child abuse, assault, child endangerment, and terroristic threats.

Date: 2018
Location: Houtzdale, Pennsylvania

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Jordan Burling, age 18, died of bronchopneumonia as a result of medical neglect by his mother, Dawn Cranston, his sister Abigail Burling, and his grandmother Denise Cranston. Jordan was homeschooled. The body of Jordan’s infant brother was also found concealed in the home.

When he attended the local elementary school, Jordan had head lice, dental decay, and couldn’t control his bodily functions. He went on to attend Farnley Park High School for a few terms, but then his mother pulled him out of school to homeschool him. Jordan last saw a dentist in 2009 when “16 of his teeth were treated, four of them removed.” Jordan’s father, who did not live with the family, last saw him in December 2015. According to the family members accused of abusing Jordan, about three months before Jordan’s death, he injured his leg and decided he would stop walking. The family members also claim that Jordan refused to see a doctor.

The abuse came to light when Dawn Cranston called paramedics to report Jordan was dying. When the paramedics arrived they found his body riddled with rotting bedsores, the bones exposed, and Jordan weighed only 84 lbs. Jordan’s mother, sister, and grandmother were charged with manslaughter and allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. Dawn Cranston was also charged with concealing the birth of a child.

Date: June 30, 2016
Location: Leeds, England, UK

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A 15-year-old boy was starved and tortured by his father, Jimmy Jones Sr. (left), his stepmother, Amy Jones (second left), and his two adult stepbrothers, Tyler Adkins (second right) and Jonathan Plank (right). The boy was homeschooled. A 4-year-old girl who lived in the home was not reported to be abused.

The boy and his little sister were raised by their grandfather until approximately 2013, when they were removed by DHS and the boy was placed with his father. Around 2016, the boy was removed from school to be homeschooled, after which time he was not allowed to leave the property. He was forced to live in a barn with farm animals and only allowed into the house to use the bathroom. In 2017, the boy’s father shot him in the leg with a shotgun, leaving the bullets in his leg. The boy also had broken bones and an infected head wound which his father treated with superglue. The boy was starved while others in the home were well-fed; when he was rescued, he weighed only 80 lbs. and his rescuers estimated he was a week from death. Amy Jones claimed the family had not sought medical care for the boy because they lacked insurance, but evidence of insurance was found in the home.

The abuse came to light when a passerby observed the boy’s condition and called child services. Jimmy Jones was charged with child abuse and all four of the perpetrators were charged with neglect.

Date: July 18, 2018
Location: Meeker, Oklahoma

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An 8-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy were imprisoned, starved, and abused by their adoptive parents, Kenny and Kelly Fry (pictured). They were homeschooled. They were treated differently from the Frys’ five biological children, who were not reported to be abused.

The Frys were respected members of their community; “Kenny is the younger brother of Iowa State Rep. Joel Fry…and Kelly was a ‘standout pitcher’ for Simpson College in the 1990s.” The abused children were adopted from Ghana a few years prior to the discovery of the abuse. The Frys imprisoned the children in bare, plastic-covered rooms with alarms on the doors and only a bucket for a toilet. The children were fed only oatmeal, and when they were rescued they had several signs of malnutrition, including distended abdomens and poorly-healing wounds. “One of the children gained 8 pounds in three weeks after being removed” from the home. The children were also punished with forced exercise. The Frys claimed they imprisoned the children to punish them for bad behavior and to prevent them from “stealing” food; however, since being removed from the home they have not demonstrated these behaviors. The Frys’ other children had normal bedrooms and no food restrictions.

The abuse came to light when the children escaped and ran crying to a neighbor’s house; the neighbor reported the incident to authorities. The Frys were charged with neglect and child endangerment. Many neighbors reported they had not known the Frys had any adopted children.

Date: January 30, 2018
Location: Osceola, Iowa

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Five children–a girl b. 2007, a boy b. 2008, two children b. 2009 and 2011, and a boy b. 2012–were starved, imprisoned, tortured, and medically neglected by their parents, Yenier and Sarah Conde (pictured). Yenier also abused Sarah. The children were homeschooled.

Sarah Conde ran an American Kennel Club breeding program in the home. The oldest boy was diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a baby. The family first came to the attention of child services in April 2009 when someone reported the home was filthy and detrimental to the boy’s health. The boy completed cancer treatment in 2011 and child services investigated the family again in 2012 because the boy had missed multiple follow-up appointments. CPS investigated again four months later when the boy was sent to school without a clean diaper. The boy’s cancer treatment caused him to need diapers, a leg brace, and specialized shoes, but “Sarah Conde requested the school remove him from special education programs and physical therapy treatments.” A reporter with the Lansing State Journal confirmed by email that the children attended school at one point, but were removed to be homeschooled by Sarah Conde. CPS investigated the family at least 12 times between 2009 and 2017.

According to officials, the abuse began in earnest in 2011. The children were imprisoned in a “dungeon” for days at a time and forced to relieve themselves in the closet or in diapers. They were deprived of food and water and beaten with a belt if they tried to escape. “One boy reported that he had been beaten with a piece of wood with nails in it. One of the girls had a scar on her butt from a spanking.” Sarah Conde threatened to shoot the children with a gun after they flooded a bathroom with water. When they were rescued, three of the children had gone so long without dental care that their teeth were rotting and needed to be extracted. Several of the children were also diagnosed with mental illnesses due to trauma.

The abuse came to light after Yenier Conde filed for divorce in April 2017. Sarah Conde responded with an order of protection against her husband and each accused the other of child abuse. The children were interviewed in May 2017 and removed from the home in June 2017. Both of the Condes were charged with 10 counts of child abuse, unlawful imprisonment, and other charges.

Date: May 2017
Location: Lansing, Michigan

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An 11-year-old boy was beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted by his mother, Jennifer Renee Franklin, and her boyfriend, Randell Howell (pictured). The boy was homeschooled.

The boy previously lived with Franklin and his biological father; Howell began living with them after the death of the boy’s father. Howell regularly beat the boy, leaving him covered with bruises, while Franklin laughed. Franklin claimed her health problems prevented her from disciplining the boy herself. The boy was given only one meal a day and Franklin took away most of his clothes. The boy was forced to clean the toilet with his personal toothbrush, and Franklin sexually assaulted the boy, ordering him not to tell anyone. She pulled him out of school to homeschool him, claiming it was due to his problems in the classroom, but the boy told investigators he was homeschooled to prevent teachers from noticing his bruises and keep him from reporting the abuse to them.

The abuse came to light when the boy escaped and ran to the home of a neighbor, who called the authorities. Franklin was charged with sexual battery and child cruelty. Howell was charged with child cruelty.

Date: August 4, 2018
Location: Key Largo, Florida

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Three children—a 12-year-old girl, and two boys ages 11 and 10—were imprisoned by their adoptive parents, Travis and Amy Headrick. The household also consisted of a fourth adopted child; the Headricks’ biological daughter; and a disabled adult. The adopted children, several of whom had disabilities, were neglected, starved, and tortured. They were homeschooled while the Headricks’ biological daughter attended school.

The abuse began at least as far back as 2009; the Headricks were reported for child abuse at least 20 times between 2009 and 2015 while they were fostering children. They were never charged with anything because the children were coached not to disclose the abuse. At some point, probably around 2015, the children were adopted. According to the Headricks’ biological daughter, who was charged with caring for the adoptive children and called their conditions “inhumane”, the Headricks were motivated by reimbursement checks. The 10-year-old boy was confined in a metal horse trough covered with metal fencing and secured with zip ties. The 11-year-old boy was locked in a cage, and the 12-year-old girl was kept locked in a room. Many of the rooms in the house were equipped with alarms. The Headricks claimed the imprisonment was for the children’s own good due to their cognitive disabilities and incontinence. The Headricks kicked the children and waterboarded them as punishment. Each of the adopted children received three bologna sandwiches per day. There were no toys in the home.

The abuse came to light when the children’s babysitter showed photographic evidence of the imprisonment to police. The babysitter, who had worked for the Headricks since March 2018, did not come forward sooner because the Headricks owned the rental unit where she lived and she did not want to risk eviction. The Headricks were each charged with nine felony counts of child neglect, false imprisonment, and reckless endangerment.

Date: August 24, 2018
Location: Melvina, Wisconsin

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A 13-year-old boy was starved and imprisoned by his mother, Dannielle Martin (left), his stepfather, Joshua Martin (right), and his grandmother, Vickie Higginbotham (center). The boy’s half-siblings—a 12-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy—were not reported to be abused. The children were homeschooled and had little contact with mandated reporters.

The abuse began at least as early as 2016, when Higginbotham regularly began to force the boy to sleep in a dog crate. He was also regularly chained to pieces of furniture. During the day he was forced to stay in a small room that was only big enough for a mattress on the floor. Joshua Martin claimed his long hours at work prevented him from noticing the abuse. Dannielle Martin, as a stay-at-home parent, did not have this excuse, but claimed she couldn’t stop Higginbotham.

The abuse came to light when the police investigated an anonymous tip and found the boy naked with chains padlocked around his ankles. He had worn the chains since the night before, purportedly as punishment for kicking his brother, who was uninjured. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for malnutrition. The Martins and Higginbotham were charged with aggravated child abuse. Higginbotham asked to take full responsibility for the crimes.

Date: September 20, 2018
Location: Prattville, Alabama

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A 17-year-old boy was starved and medically neglected by his parents, David and Vanessa Hall (pictured). The boy was homeschooled.

The boy was blind and autistic. He attended special education at age 5 when the family lived in Georgia, but was then pulled from school to be homeschooled. After the family moved to Colorado around 2008, the boy did not receive any medical or dental care. He was fed only soda and crackers and forced to use a jug next to his bed as a toilet. He was rarely allowed outside. When he was rescued, the boy weighed 88 lbs. and had “severe malnutrition, hypovolemic shock, a stage 3 sacral pressure sore and kidney failure…He lacked seven basic vitamins and minerals” and had scurvy.

The abuse came to light when the Halls brought the boy to the hospital after he passed out in the shower. The Halls pleaded guilty to child abuse and were sentenced to 10 years in prison due to their continued emotional abuse of the boy after his removal despite a no-contact order.

Date: August 2016
Location: Longmont, Colorado

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Three children—a 19-year-old girl, A.; a 9-year-old girl, B.; and a 7-year-old boy, C.*—were physically and sexually abused by their parents, Arthur and Jenny Peterman. The two youngest children were homeschooled.

Arthur Peterman began sexually abusing A. daily when she was four years old. He also regularly sexually abused B., who told police “it happened because he thought she was his wife.” The sexual abuse of B. occurred in front of C. and in front of Jenny Peterman, who did nothing to stop it. Peterman also watched pornography in front of his children. Both parents physically abused all three children, and when C. was rescued he had cuts and burns on his body. Arthur Peterman bragged about burning C. with his methamphetamine pipe. B. tested positive for methamphetamines when she was rescued. The children reported being starved as punishment. Though the children attended school at some point, “police said both children were regularly kept home from school, and a witness said the children had not completed a full year of school yet”; Jenny Peterman claimed to be homeschooling the children, but “couldn’t show police any books because they were “put up.”” A family member reported regularly delivering food because the Petermans did not have food or hot water in their home. The children were instructed not to tell anyone about the abuse.

The abuse came to light in April 2018 when someone requested a wellness check on the children and authorities discovered them in filthy condition. The children were removed from the home and later revealed the extent of the abuse in interviews. Arthur Peterman was charged with statutory rape, child molestation, child abuse, and child endangerment, among other charges. Jenny Peterman was charged with child abuse and child endangerment.

*Pseudonymous initials used for clarity.

Date: April 2018
Location: Kansas City, Missouri

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Charlie*, age 12, was neglected by his mother. Charlie was homeschooled.

Charlie was born in 2003 to a white mother and a First Nations father. Charlie began showing signs of autism around age three, shortly before his parents separated, although he was not diagnosed until age six. Charlie and his older brother stayed with their mother after the separation. Child services came to the home several times and Charlie was hospitalized twice, where he showed signs of neglect. In school, Charlie “thrived, working with a one-on-one aide and following an Individual Education Plan (IEP).” However, after enrolling, he “missed more than 100 days of school over two school years before he was withdrawn for homeschooling in 2011.” When he was rescued in 2016, he weighed 65 pounds, had tooth decay, and was “naked and filthy, unable to walk and living in a bedroom covered in garbage and feces.”

The abuse came to light when police responded to Charlie’s home after reports of screaming. Charlie and his brother were removed from their mother’s custody. Charlie subsequently flourished in foster care; in 2018 reports stated he was “back in school, well nourished and healthy. He is described by those who know him best as affectionate, clever and observant.”

*Charlie is a pseudonym

Date: January 2016
Location: Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada

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