Kentucky mom arrested for horrific neglect of autistic child

Post Reply New Topic

Law enforcement officials serving warrants in Webster County Friday said they found something unexpected — an autistic child held in a room covered in human waste.

The four-year-old's mother, Felicia Terrell, 27, Providence, has been arrested and charged with first-degree criminal abuse.

"I've been in law enforcement 33 years, retired from the state police, and I've never seen anything like it in my life," said Providence Police Chief Todd Jones, who was first at the door of the Bellville Road home.

Jones was one of the officers who responded to the mobile home Friday to serve an arrest warrant to Terrell on the charge of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

The Providence chief said when law enforcement told Terrell she was under arrest, she became emotional and asked if she could get her cell phone. Jones said she allowed law enforcement to enter the residence while she retrieved her phone.

"We were in the middle of talking to her when the little boy came running down the hall," Jones said.

The child was naked, according to the reports.

"She at first said he came from her bedroom, and that's where we located a lot of drugs and firearms ... she then changed the story and said he was in the other room," Jones said.

"As we're walking back (into the home), we see what I can only describe as a horse stable," Jones said. "Like a horse stable where the horse can hang it's head over (the gate). It latches on the outside, where anyone on the inside can't get out.

"There was one window in the room, and it was boarded up with plywood," Jones said. "It was basically by accident that I discovered there was no light in the room. I couldn't get the light on. Knowing a little bit about electricity, I started working with the switch and got it to turn on.

"(Terrell) asked me, 'How did you do that? We haven't had light in here in a long time,'" Jones said.
Picture of inside of the wall of the room where a child was allegedly kept by his mother.

"When we opened that horse-stall door, that's when your heart dropped because on the inside of that door, you could see those little bitty handprints made in fecal material where (the child) had apparently tried to get out," Jones told The Gleaner.

"There were also handprints on the walls. There was urine on the floor, a milky-looking substance and cereal on the floor," he said.

"The mother told us he was autistic," Jones said. "I've dealt with a lot of autistic children (on different stages of the autism spectrum,) and I still haven't seen any that should live in this type of torment."

Jones said while the rest of the house was cluttered, only the child's room was covered in human waste.

The Providence police chief said the child's bare mattress and every toy or item in the room was covered in feces and urine.

There were no sheets, no covers and no pillows on the bed," he said. "The bed was covered in feces. The mother said the sheets and covers were in the washing machine, but there was no proof to that."

Jones said one of the officers on the scene found a diaper and put it on the little boy.

"(Terrell) told us he wouldn't keep the diaper on, but he did the entire time we were there. He does not speak, but he's very playful," Jones said. "He was excited to see us. He loved the police uniform and wanted to touch the radios and touch stuff. He was just your typical 4-year-old boy who is into everything."

Jones said social services was contacted but did not respond to the scene. He said the Department of Community Based Services commenced its investigation Monday.

The police chief said the woman who took custody of the child had been an occasional babysitter for the boy.

"I interviewed her (Monday) to get more details," Jones said. "She's still trying to be defensive, and she says she didn't lock him in there very much so it shouldn't be that big of a deal."

What freaked me out the most, oddly was the boarded up window, why keep out the light?

Horrible.

Lock her up for 30 years. Find a decent home for child. Happy ending.