Utah dad and mom arrested for locking their 13-year-old son in a makeshift cell advised police they’d do it once more.
Aug. 29 2024, Revealed 7:00 p.m. ET
Two dad and mom charged with aggravated little one abuse confessed they’d do it once more if their 13-year-old son was returned house
Travis Stacey Peterson and Melissa Ann Grey have been arrested after law enforcement officials found their son padlocked in what was described as a makeshift cell of their house, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Grey, 41, was moreover charged with misdemeanor of kid abuse with an damage.
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Travis Stacey Peterson and Melissa Ann Grey of Kearns, Utah, have been arrested for aggravated little one abuse.
Unified Cops responded to a report of kid locked in a makeshift cell at a Kearns, Utah, house. Once they arrived, the discovered the sufferer padlocked in an alcove beneath the house’s stairs.
Police mentioned the kid was locked within the alcove for a minimum of 24-hours earlier than they arrived. The kid advised officers he was locked within the makeshift cell after Grey, his step-mother, spanked him for screaming in the home.
The arrest report acknowledged the sufferer “reported being hungry, lonely and having to sleep curled up within the makeshift cells.”
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Previous to the sufferer being moved to the padlocked space beneath the steps, he was mentioned to be locked in an identical makeshift cell underneath a loft mattress. The sufferer advised police they have been locked underneath the mattress for months, solely to be launched lengthy sufficient to make use of the restroom.
The police affidavit acknowledged: “[The victim] talked a few time when [they were] determined to get out of the cell to make use of the restroom. [The victim] was in a position to get away of the cell and use the lavatory as a result of nobody was responding to [their] pleas to get out.”
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Police discovered a 13-year-old boy padlocked inside a makeshift cell at their house.
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In keeping with the arrest report, Grey and Peterson, 49, advised police they discovered nothing incorrect with locking the kid underneath the mattress or stairs.
The 41-year-old claimed she needed the sufferer “to know what it was like in a metropolis and the true world”, whereas Peterson allegedly mentioned the sufferer can be put again within the makeshift cell in the event that they returned house.
Unified Police Sgt. Aymee Race mentioned: “Holding [kids] behind makeshift cells is just not the way in which youngsters ought to be raised.”
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Investigators moreover found the sufferer was fed solely twice a day and was let loose of the makeshift cell thrice a day to make use of the restroom. The sufferer’s 22-year-old brother was additionally reportedly stored locked-up in a similar way when he was a toddler – and was compelled to “defecate in his dresser drawer”.
Race mentioned: “These instances at all times hit house. These are younger youngsters who’re being raised by folks that ought to be taking good care of them, offering them meals, water, shelter, care, love, and never in these situations.”
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Grey reportedly advised police the sufferer was locked within the cell so he would know what ‘the true world’ was like.
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Through the investigation, Peterson admitted to working within the well being care business and was anxious he would lose his job over the incident as a result of “the nation and world is cracking down on this form of factor”.
The sufferer was positioned within the care of relations whereas the Utah Division of Baby and Household Companies and Unified Police examine the crimes.
Peterson and Grey have been being held within the Salt Lake Metropolis County Jail with out bail.
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