In a follow up to a story we first reported Thursday morning, the 15-year-old boy who was locked in a bathroom naked and forced to sleep on a pallet was turned over to the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services after Mountain Home Police found him in the apartment last Saturday.
Arrested for keeping the boy locked in the bathroom were 41-year-old Jaclyn Machelle Barnett and 40-year-old Daniel Alan Wright. The boy refers to the couple as his mother and step-father but police tell KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News that Barnett is actually his legal guardian. Each were charged with 112 counts of first degree false imprisonment along with one count each of endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting abuse of a minor. Barnett is still being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on bonds totaling $50,000. Wright is free after posting $50,000 bond.
In the probable cause affidavit from the Mountain Home Police Department, it was noted since 2013, 29 cases of maltreatment have been opened involving the victim. The cases include maltreatment, inadequate supervision, failure to provide food, failure to provide essential needs, extreme or repeated cruelty and failure to protect. The cases were opened after calls were made by mandated reporters and anonymous callers to the Arkansas Department of Human Services Child Abuse Hotline.
KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News reached out to the Arkansas Department of Human Services Thursday for comment on why the boy was not removed from the home after so many cases, but we have not heard back from the agency.
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