Teh One Who Knocks
10-21-2011, 11:13 AM
By The Associated Press
ERIE — Police say a 14-year-old boy with mental problems was locked in a filthy room with boarded-up windows, fed once a day and allowed out just three times a day.
The Greeley Tribune reported on its website Thursday that the boy's mother and boyfriend were arrested last month after a neighbor in the northern Colorado town of Erie told police he found the frightened boy hiding under his porch.
The boy's mother, Amanda Jolliff, 36, faces misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment, child abuse and neglect and her boyfriend, Richard Smith, 31, faces a felony charge of false imprisonment and misdemeanor charges of child abuse and neglect, prosecutors said.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said prosecutors are considering refiling felony charges against Jolliff.
No phone number could be found for Jolliff or Smith and it wasn't clear whether they had attorneys.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Jolliff told police the lock was placed on the boy's door because he once ran away and that she sometimes locked him in the room when she was upset with him or he was in trouble.
Others in the home locked the boy in the room as well, she told police, but it wasn't clear who the others were.
The boy and his sister were left in the care of a man who lived in a car outside the mother's trailer home for two weeks in September while Jolliff and Smith went to New York, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
It wasn't immediately known how long the boy allegedly lived under the squalid conditions described by police. According to the affidavit, the boy told investigators he was pulled from public school for home-schooling in 2008 but never received any instruction.
An Erie police officer described the boy as an "at-risk child" who "suffers from a mental disorder." Jolliff told investigators the boy was developmentally delayed, according to the affidavit. No other details were known.
"(The boy) stated he remains locked up for most of every day," the affidavit stated.
Usually he was allowed out of his room at 8 a.m. to take care of some ducks, then locked in his room again until 3 p.m., when he was let out to clean, the affidavit stated. He would be returned to his room until about 6:30-7 p.m., when he was let out for dinner, and he was then locked in his room until morning, the affidavit said.
"(The boy) told me he is only fed one meal a day, which is macaroni or spaghetti," the affidavit stated. "(He) stated he never gets breakfast or lunch and that he doesn't eat on some days."
The affidavit said that when police searched the trailer home, they found mice running rampant and mouse droppings on every surface in the kitchen and in the refrigerator. There was little or no food in the refrigerator, and a pantry contained boxes of spaghetti noodles, most of which were chewed open by mice. The trailer had an overpowering smell of animal urine and feces, the affidavit said.
The boy's bedroom was filled with junk and a soiled mattress with no sheets, and the door was plywood, the affidavit said.
Jolliff told police the home was not in such poor condition when she left for New York.
The Tribune reported the boy and his sister's current whereabouts couldn't be confirmed but neighbors said they were in the custody of child welfare authorities.
Jolliff and Smith were being held in the Weld County jail with bail set at $20,000 each. Jolliff's next court appearance is Oct. 27 and Smith's is Nov. 3.
ERIE — Police say a 14-year-old boy with mental problems was locked in a filthy room with boarded-up windows, fed once a day and allowed out just three times a day.
The Greeley Tribune reported on its website Thursday that the boy's mother and boyfriend were arrested last month after a neighbor in the northern Colorado town of Erie told police he found the frightened boy hiding under his porch.
The boy's mother, Amanda Jolliff, 36, faces misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment, child abuse and neglect and her boyfriend, Richard Smith, 31, faces a felony charge of false imprisonment and misdemeanor charges of child abuse and neglect, prosecutors said.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said prosecutors are considering refiling felony charges against Jolliff.
No phone number could be found for Jolliff or Smith and it wasn't clear whether they had attorneys.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Jolliff told police the lock was placed on the boy's door because he once ran away and that she sometimes locked him in the room when she was upset with him or he was in trouble.
Others in the home locked the boy in the room as well, she told police, but it wasn't clear who the others were.
The boy and his sister were left in the care of a man who lived in a car outside the mother's trailer home for two weeks in September while Jolliff and Smith went to New York, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
It wasn't immediately known how long the boy allegedly lived under the squalid conditions described by police. According to the affidavit, the boy told investigators he was pulled from public school for home-schooling in 2008 but never received any instruction.
An Erie police officer described the boy as an "at-risk child" who "suffers from a mental disorder." Jolliff told investigators the boy was developmentally delayed, according to the affidavit. No other details were known.
"(The boy) stated he remains locked up for most of every day," the affidavit stated.
Usually he was allowed out of his room at 8 a.m. to take care of some ducks, then locked in his room again until 3 p.m., when he was let out to clean, the affidavit stated. He would be returned to his room until about 6:30-7 p.m., when he was let out for dinner, and he was then locked in his room until morning, the affidavit said.
"(The boy) told me he is only fed one meal a day, which is macaroni or spaghetti," the affidavit stated. "(He) stated he never gets breakfast or lunch and that he doesn't eat on some days."
The affidavit said that when police searched the trailer home, they found mice running rampant and mouse droppings on every surface in the kitchen and in the refrigerator. There was little or no food in the refrigerator, and a pantry contained boxes of spaghetti noodles, most of which were chewed open by mice. The trailer had an overpowering smell of animal urine and feces, the affidavit said.
The boy's bedroom was filled with junk and a soiled mattress with no sheets, and the door was plywood, the affidavit said.
Jolliff told police the home was not in such poor condition when she left for New York.
The Tribune reported the boy and his sister's current whereabouts couldn't be confirmed but neighbors said they were in the custody of child welfare authorities.
Jolliff and Smith were being held in the Weld County jail with bail set at $20,000 each. Jolliff's next court appearance is Oct. 27 and Smith's is Nov. 3.