Parents arrested after keeping adopted son captive in their garage for years
Last night, Florida’s Jupiter Police Department reported on a story where, for years, the adoptive parents of a 13-year-old boy held their son captive in an 8-foot by 8-foot space built into their garage. The space was outfitted with a mattress, a bucket for the child to use when he had to go to the bathroom, and a surveillance camera, according to WPTV. The structure could only be locked and unlocked from the outside.
The parents were identified as Timothy Ferriter and Tracy Ferriter.
A single light switch was located on the outside of the customized structure built into the parents’ garage. The child was only allowed outside of that structure to attend school. The home containing the 8’ x 8’ child prison space is located in the 200 block of Crane Point North in Jupiter’s Egret Landing community.
Police only became aware of the travesty after the child decided to make a run for it.
According to the Jupiter Police Department, on January 30, detectives responded to that residence in Egret Landing to follow up on their investigation regarding the 13-year-old boy who had been reported as a runaway.
Detectives made contact with the mother, Tracy Ferriter at the residence who allowed one detective into the home. While the detective was in the residence, he noticed an 8×8 structure within the garage that was described by the mother as a small office.
The structure had a doorknob and deadbolt, both locking from the outside as well as a light switch only on the exterior. Within the structure was a camera, mattress, and a bucket. Ferriter explained the structure was utilized as an office or for storage space.
On January 31, detectives located the missing runaway at his school and were able to conduct interviews with the child.
As the ongoing investigation continued and numerous interviews conducted, police were able to determine that the 13-year-old has been physically abused and forcibly confined to live within the garage structure by his adopted parents, identified as Tracy Ferriter and Timothy Ferriter.
The child was forced to live inside that small space since at least 2017. The residence had a 2-car garage plus a separate 1-car garage. The structure used to contain the 13-year-old was built inside the 1-car garage.
The boy was able to attend school but was confined to the structure during the remainder of the day. Meals were brought to him – and the bucket was provided for bathroom use.
Both Tracy and Timothy Ferriter, both 46, have been arrested for aggravated child abuse and have been transported to the Palm Beach County Jail. The other three children living in the home have been removed by Child Protective Services. The youngest of the three other kids is two years old.
While in court earlier today, the Ferriters’ lawyer suggested to the judge that the 13-year-old suffered from “reactive attachment disorder,” which according to The Mayo Clinic, is described as “a rare but serious condition in which an infant or young child doesn’t establish healthy attachments with parents or caregivers.”
In court Wednesday, there was no mention of possible abuse against the couple’s other children.
The Ferriters lived in Jupiter for 16 years before moving to Arizona for four years. They had recently moved back to Palm Beach County. ~ WPTV
Police said that their investigation is ongoing; and more information will be released when it becomes available.
For more on this very alarming story, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source, Timothy Ferriter, Tracy Ferriter mugshots: Jupiter Police Department)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
