A Georgia mother is now facing charges after her adopted son ran off “frightened” leading police to notice concerning scars on his body, the police department said in a press release.
Officers were called to a home in Newnan last Wednesday evening for the 11-year-old boy who was seen running away from the subdivision.
Police said they then met up with the child and some Good Samaritans.
As they were speaking with the 11-year-old, police noticed “concerning marks” on his body.
The boy told police that he did not know where his family was and that he was left home locked in a bedroom closet in which he had escaped.
During an investigation, it was found that the boy was being locked away in a room for as long as four years. The documents described that the woman imprisoned the boy by trapping him in a room. Door knobs were turned in the opposite direction to stop the 11-year-old from escaping to the point he was forced to defecate on himself, warrants said.
The warrants describe the child having to “break through the sheetrock wall, crawl through the framing studs and jump from a second-floor window to escape the residence” to make his escape.
Detectives then took a closer look at the boy’s marks and noticed scars and injuries that were “consistent with long-term abuse and neglect.”
After observing the boy’s scars, police obtained a search warrant for a residence and the Georgia Department of Family and Children’s Services gave the boy a safe environment.
Authorities later located the boy’s adoptive mom, Chloe Jackson-Jones, in Spalding County and took her into custody.
Police interviewed her and collected her phone as evidence, according to the warrants. Officers found videos and photos of the alleged abuse.
Authorities said in the warrants that the reported abuse could be considered by some as mental and physical “torture.” In the videos and photos, which contained inappropriate photos of the 11-year-old, police said the boy could be seen getting kicked, tied up and gagged.
Warrants also showed that Jackson-Jones encouraged other children in her care to participate in the previous incidents.
The 39-year-old was ordered not to have any contact with her other children after police saw the videos of the reported abuse, according to warrants. Police then interviewed the other children seen in the video. They added that the children might have been coached to lie to authorities, warrants stated.
The biological sister of the 11-year-old also admitted to witnessing the alleged abuse, the documents stated.
According to jail records, the 39-year-old mother is being charged with three counts of false imprisonment, two counts of reckless conduct, two counts of aggravated assault, battery, two counts of contributing to delinquency or dependency of a minor, two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree, one count of cruelty to children in the first degree.
She is currently being held at the Coweta County Jail with no bond, according to jail records.
Police added that additional charges are expected in this case.
This is a developing story.
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