The head of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and the agency’s chief attorney recently met with Prosecutor David Ethredge in Mountain Home to discuss how the system failed a 15-year-old male who was kept locked in a dark bathroom, naked and unfed for days.
It was discovered during the investigation that 29 cases had been opened on the young man based on reports that had come into the Child Abuse Hotline managed by DHS.
Ethredge said DHS Secretary Kristi Putman recognized that the agency had not met its responsibilities as it related to the teen.
“She was very forthright in saying the ball was dropped,” Ethredge said, “and they are reviewing the entire case, including each of the 29 reports called into the Child Abuse Hotline, to determine where failures occurred so they can be avoided in the future.”
The hot line reports dealt with such matters as maltreatment, inadequate supervision, failure to provide food and other essential needs, extreme or repeated cruelty and failure to protect. The reports were provided by mandated reporters and anonymous sources. Mandated reporters are those who are required by law to report instances of child abuse including teachers, social workers, health care professionals, law enforcement and coaches.
One factor that is being reviewed is how the 29 reports were treated, including why all of them were apparently closed when the incidents were deemed unsubstantiated.
Ethredge said it was “hard to imagine” that 29 reports could stack up without someone noticing there was a pattern of behavior in that home that needed to be closely checked out.
A report will be made by DHS officials to Ethredge’s office. Earlier, the prosecutor said that if the information being gathered rose to a level where criminal charges could be considered, he would ask the Arkansas State Police to enter the case.
Ethredge said he was monitoring the situation to ensure a report from DHS is received on a timely basis and that it contains answers for the questions he has about the incident.
The couple living in the apartment where the male teenager was found, 40-year-old Daniel Wright and 42-year-old Jaclyn Barnett, were initially charged with 112 counts of false imprisonment as well as endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting the abuse of a minor.
In one court record, Wright identifies Barnett as his fiancé.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the family moved into the apartment where the boy’s situation was eventually brought to light in January.
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 told investigators they notified Wright and Barnett about the complaints but the noises continued.
In October, police were notified about the noise again and Wright was contacted by telephone about the complaints. During a visit to the apartment a police officer talked to a 10-and-11-year-old living in the apartment. They denied knowing anything about a teenager being locked in the bathroom.
The two children put police in touch with Wright at his place of work. Wright is alleged to have said the boy was at work with him. The record does not indicate 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 living conditions.
On November 2, police returned to the apartment complex to investigate a report that cries for help were coming from the upstairs unit.
It was at that time that the boy’s maltreatment and its extent were finally uncovered.
Officers reported meeting with the occupants of the downstairs apartment and were taken to the master bedroom where the teenager could be heard speaking to the tenants in the apartment below him.
He was heard to say he was locked in a bathroom and could not get out.
Police headed to the upstairs unit and were met by the 10-and-11-year-old that had been interviewed on a previous call to the apartment.
They two juveniles said Wright and Barnett were at work. Wright was said to have worked at a furniture rental business and Barnett for a used car lot.
As the investigation continued, police went to the master bedroom of the upstairs apartment 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 a naked 15-year-old male. He told them he had been locked inside the bathroom the day before and not allowed out since.
Officers reported seeing 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.
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 him.
The victim referred to Wright as his stepfather and to Barnett as his mother. She is actually his legal guardian.
There are court records regarding a guardianship for two boys listing Jaclyn M. Barnett as the person asking for the designation. In those documents, Barnett is listed as the paternal aunt.
In one annual guardianship report, Barnett reported that one of the two boys received $733 a month in social security benefits.
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 10-and-11-year-old were asked to demonstrate how they would manipulate the ratchet strap keeping the bathroom door shut but were unable to perform the task.
Wright and Barnett said at one point the ratchet strap was not being used to keep the teenage boy in the bathroom, but to keep all of the children in the house out of the room 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 to attend school periodically and that is also the only time he was able to eat.
When school records were checked, they showed the boy had been to school for only 112 days since January.
The teen and other children living in the apartment were removed by DHS.
Wright and Barnett are both free on $50,000 bond each.
Both are now set for final pre-trial hearings on April 7 and jury trials May 12.
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