Couple who kept male teen locked in bathroom naked and unfed opt for trial

Two Baxter County residents charged with keeping a 15-year-old male described as “low functioning” locked in a dark bathroom, naked and unfed for days were expected to plead guilty to the charges against them during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday (July 21).
However, James E. Hensley, Jr., who practices law in Conway and is the attorney of record for 41-year-old Daniel Wright and 42-year-old Jaclyn Barnett, told the court his clients had decided to go to trial.

Circuit Judge John Putman set November 10 as the trial date.

The couple faces 112 counts of false imprisonment as well as endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting the abuse of a minor.

The investigation showed that since 2013, twenty-nine “cases” have been opened on the young man based on reports that came to the Child Abuse Hotline managed by the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS).

The cases dealt with such matters as maltreatment, inadequate supervision, failure to provide food and other essential needs, extreme or repeated cruelty and failure to protect.

Information was provided by mandated reporters and anonymous sources. Mandated reporters are those who are required by law to report instances of child abuse and include teachers, social workers, health care professionals, law enforcement and coaches.

Available information on the case does not show how many of the 29 complaints/cases were actually looked into in any depth by DHS/Child Protective Services, but they were apparently all closed after the incidents were deemed unsubstantiated.

At his request, Prosecutor David Ethredge met with the head of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and the agency’s chief attorney to ask questions about how the 29 complaints were handled and why the teen’s situation had not come to light earlier as a result of the numerous complaints.

After the meeting, which was held in Mountain Home, Ethredge told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News that the then DHS head, Kristi Putman, admitted her agency had not met its responsibilities to the teen victim and that the “ball had been badly dropped.”

Putman has since left the agency. A DHS spokesman told KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News recently that the change in leadership at DHS would not delay completing the report and providing it to Ethredge.

Ethredge said DHS had pledged to review the entire case, including each of the 29 reports called into the Child Abuse Hotline, to determine where the system failed and how it failed so those issues can be addressed.

Ethredge said if it appeared to him that the information provided by DHS rose to a level where criminal charges might be filed against others, he would ask the Arkansas State Police to enter the case.

According to the probable cause affidavit, it was in January last year that the family moved into the apartment where the boy’s situation was eventually brought to light.

Downstairs neighbors reported hearing noises coming from the upstairs apartment where the family lived and said they reported it to management several times.

The apartment managers claim they notified Wright and Barnett, about the complaints, but the noises continued.

In October, police were notified and Wright was contacted by telephone about the noise.

During the telephone call with Wright, he was reported to have said the 15-year-old male who also lived in the house was at work with him. Records do not show that any effort was made to see the boy face-to-face in order to prove or disprove Wright’s claim.

Investigators speculate the two children in the house may have been coached by the adults not to talk about the 15-year-old or his substandard living conditions.

On November 2 last year, police returned to the apartment complex to investigate a report that audible cries for help were coming from an upstairs unit.

It was at this point that the boy’s maltreatment and the extent of that maltreatment was finally uncovered.

Officers met with the occupants of the downstairs apartment and were taken to the master bedroom where the teenager could be heard speaking to the tenants from the upstairs apartment.

He said that he was locked in the bathroom and could not get out.

Police headed to the upstairs apartment and were met by two juveniles, ages 10 and 11. Wright and Barnett were reported to have been at work. Wright is said to have worked for a furniture rental business and Barnett at a used car lot.

As the investigation continued, police went to the master bedroom of the upstairs unit occupied by Wright and Barnett and saw a red “ratchet strap” attached to the bedpost and the door of the master bath.

A ratchet strap is commonly used to tie down and secure items being carried in a vehicle.

When the strap was released and the door opened, officers saw the naked 15-year-old male. He told them he had been locked inside the bathroom the day before and not allowed out since.

Officers saw no clothing in the bathroom. The boy said he slept naked because he had once stuffed clothing into a vent to stop cold air from coming into the room.

According to investigative reports, the lack of clothing appeared to be some sort of punishment for clogging the vent.

Police reported that the teen was embarrassed to come out of the bathroom because he was nude.

Even though the two juveniles who met police at the front door had initially feigned ignorance about a person being locked in the bathroom, they did speak to officers after the victim had been discovered.

The two juveniles said they slept in bunkbeds and the 15-year-old male slept on a pallet in the bathroom. They said there was no bedroom in the apartment for the boy.

The victim referred to Wright as his stepfather and to Barnett as his mother. She is actually his aunt and legal guardian.

There are court records regarding a guardianship for two boys and listing Jaclyn M Barnett as the person asking for the designation.

In court documents, Barnett is listed as the boy’s paternal aunt and as Wright’s fiancé.

In an annual guardianship report submitted by Barnett’s attorney several years ago, one of the boys was said to be attending a kindergarten where he received counseling, occupational, speech and physical therapy “to address his needs.”

In an annual report that guardians are required to submit, Barnett said one of the boys received $733 a month in social security benefits.

Court records are liberally sprinkled with documents showing what can only be described as a dysfunctional family.

At one point, Barnett was quoted as saying there were at least six children in her home and higher numbers – up to a dozen – are also mentioned in court reports and other documents.

When Wright and Barnett were interviewed, they said they had no idea the 15-year-old had been locked in the bathroom.

The couple claimed the boy must have been locked in while “the kids were playing.” Officers reported the two juveniles were asked to demonstrate how they would manipulate the ratchet strap keeping the bathroom door shut but they were unable to perform the task.

Wright and Barnett were also reported to have told investigators that the ratchet strap was not used to keep the teen in the bathroom, but to keep all of the children in the house out because of a leaky faucet that had been reported to management several times.

Apartment managers contradicted that statement telling investigators they had been contacted once in July by Wright and Barnett and that was to report a loose toilet, not a leaky faucet.

The victim, who was reported to be small for his age, said he was only let out of the bathroom sporadically to attend school and that was also the only time he was able to eat.

When school records were checked, they showed the victim had been to school for only 112 days since January last year.

The teen and other children living in the apartment were removed by DHS.

Wright and Barnett have been free on $50,000 bond.

WebReady^TM Powered by WireReady^® NSI