Left: Sean Moody. Right: Mikki Moody (Carter County Sheriff’s Office)
Authorities in the US state of Tennessee have arrested a couple who allegedly locked a seven-year-old autistic boy who cannot speak in a storage room in an “unhygienic” house.
According to a news release from the Carter County Sheriff’s Office, officers executing a search warrant at a home in the 300 block of Blevins Hollow Road in Elizabethton, west Tennessee, found “evidence of child abuse.” Police arrested Mikki Dee Moody, 36, and Sean David Moody, 39, on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect and endangering the welfare of a child.
On Thursday, officers executing the warrant, along with agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, found the Moodys and the boy who lived in the home. Agents took Sean Moody into custody on a separate charge of abuse of a vulnerable adult, authorities said.
“During a search of the residence, it was determined that the living conditions were unsanitary,” Sheriff’s Office Investigator Preston White said in a statement.
White said there were exposed wires sticking out of electrical outlets and animal and human feces were visible throughout the house. Officers then found a brown storage chest in the living room.
More on Law&Crime: Parents never gave their 3-year-old daughter solid food, leading to malnutrition and tooth decay so severe that eating was “unbearable,” cops say
“The trunk contained urine-soaked blankets, a pillow, half-eaten pizza and items of clothing that contained a substance that was suggestive of blood,” White said.
The Moodys allegedly gave the boy food and then locked him in the trunk. Police took the couple to the Carter County Jail. Mikki Moody has since posted $75,000 bail, while Sean Moody remains in jail, records show.
The officers notified child welfare services, which rushed to the house and took the boy into custody.
According to the TBI, Sean Moody’s abuse of a vulnerable adult stemmed from the abuse of his adult sister with a developmental disability. Investigators received a tip about the abuse on August 7.
“During the investigation, agents determined that the victim was being abused by her brother, Sean Moody, who also served as her caregiver,” agents said.
Do you have a tip we should know? (email protected)
