AVON PARK, Fla. — A man and his girlfriend were arrested this week for abusing a 9-year-old boy and keeping him confined in deplorable conditions, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said their investigation began on April 14 when the 9-year-old boy ran away from his home on State Road 17 in Avon Park.
His disappearance garnered a large search operation utilizing dozens of deputies and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officers. He was eventually found hiding under a car in the neighbor's yard.
During the search for the missing boy, detectives searched the home where he lived and reported discovering the 9-year-old's room was filthy and had an "overwhelming" smell of urine.
The boy's room was an addition to the main home and was built out of plywood, according to the sheriff's office. Holes in the wood were big enough to let insects and rodents inside, deputies reported.
Deputies said all the boy had to sleep on was an egg crate-style piece of thin foam — no blankets or pillows. The room was also completely devoid of any toys or personal items.
The "door" to the room was simply a piece of plywood that was "impossible for the boy to move when it was blocking the door." That was because the piece of plywood was often screwed shut, deputies explained.
The Special Victims Unit detective who searched the room said even the "worst" prison cells he's seen in his 17-year law enforcement career "do not compare" to the condition of the boy's room.
Dog kennels kept in the home's living room were noted to be in better condition than the living conditions the boy was subjected to, the agency said.
After being found after running away, the boy was taken in by the Florida Department of Families and Children. Several days later, the boy revealed in an interview that he was often locked in his room, with the "door" screwed shut, for such long periods of time he was forced to soil himself because he couldn't access the bathroom. Deputies said the boy was only allowed to shower once a week.
In addition, the boy had to yell at a security camera installed in his room in order to be let out of the room, but was often ignored, the agency's report stated.
Deputies said the boy told them he was often denied food as punishment and was physically abused by his grandfather, identified as 59-year-old Jack Young.
Two other children were found living at the home, and they were also taken into DCF custody. They confirmed the boy's accounts of being locked away and physically abused, deputies said.
Both Young and his 34-year-old girlfriend Ashlee Marshall, who also lived at the home, were arrested and each charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. The sheriff's office said they were each being held Tuesday on $50,000 bond.
