A pair of Georgia parents are facing charges over accusations of child cruelty, including for allegedly imprisoning their four teenagers at their home by keeping them in their bedrooms for long periods.
James and Cindy Spooner have each been charged with four counts of first-degree child cruelty and false imprisonment, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Investigators executed a search warrant at the family’s four-bedroom ranch-style home in Whitesburg, Georgia, and found four teenagers — three girls and one boy — under conditions the investigators described as inhumane.
Each child’s bedroom had a deadbolt lock on the outside of the door and exterior doors and windows were boarded up in an apparent attempt to prevent the children from leaving the house, the sheriff’s office said.
The teenagers told investigators they had been locked in their bedrooms for hours or even days at a time with only a bucket to use for a toilet. The children also said they were only given food at the discretion of their parents.
“This is a heartbreaking situation for these innocent children, and no one should be treated like they have been,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “We pray for their recovery from this mentally and physically and hope the offenders are punished harshly through the judicial system for these horrid actions.”
The case remains under investigation.
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