He was locked in his room for seven months. His sister gave him a way out, police say
A Florida child was so desperate to escape his parents that he did something dangerously extreme, police say.
According to a police report from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Kelly and Daniel Davis were arrested Monday on child abuse charges after one of their six kids set a mattress on fire to escape the “deplorable” conditions of his bedroom at the Spring Hill home.
The arrest affidavit says the 8-year-old boy was kept locked up in his dark, boarded-up bedroom with no power for months.
“Between March 1 and Oct. 5, the defendant and co-defendant did knowingly and willfully commit aggravated acts of child abuse [upon] the victim,” according to the complaint.
Deputies and fire-rescue initially responded to the home after reports of arson, the report says.
They saw the boy’s door was bolted with a chain slide lock from the outside and a board was nailed to the frame. The window was boarded up, letting in no natural light. The power had been cut off via a circuit breaker; and both feces and urine stained the walls, according to the report.
It is unclear if the door was broken down by first responders or opened by the parents.
“The room was void of light, electricity, games, television and other items,” the arrest affidavit said. “The only item the victim was allowed to have was a mattress on the floor and a blanket.”
The suspects admitted to investigators that the boy was locked up when he misbehaved but could yell for them if he needed to use the bathroom.
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The Pasco agency says one of his sisters passed matches under the door to aid in his escape. Her age is unclear but the Davises have children ranging from an infant to 10 years old.
Kelley Davis, 36, and Daniel Davis, 37, were each charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. Their children are all in protective custody.
