Feces and cockroaches everywhere: a Florida man kept his disabled father locked up for 8 months and used his allowance
A Florida man has been arrested after police said he locked his bedridden father in a room for eight months without medical attention, reports WFLA.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested 22-year-old Jonathan Woods for neglect of an elderly person with a disability and false imprisonment.
According to the affidavit, authorities received a phone call on April 5 about possible abuse of the elderly. Arriving at the indicated address, they talked to the victim, who called 911. It turned out to be an elderly disabled man. He told them that he had been locked in a bedroom for eight months and had had several seizures in the past couple of days that left him unable to move and had not received medical attention from his son.
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The affidavit states that when the officers took the man out of the room, cockroaches crawled out from under him and he was covered in feces, including on his eyebrows, ears, beard, hair and arms. They said he was also covered in bedsores from being bedridden.
The man was then taken to the hospital, where the authorities spoke to him again. There, he said that when he tried to leave the bedroom, he could not open the door because his son tied a rope to another door, preventing him from leaving the bedroom.
The man said that he had not eaten or drunk water for the past four days, and the last thing he ate was a hamburger that his son brought home. He also said that he gave his son money several times, but he just spent the money and did not bring him food.
The son also took his debit card and refused to return it until the man demanded it be returned before the authorities.
While the sheriff's office was talking to the man, he received a message from his son in which he "thanked" the man for calling 911 and for getting him and his girlfriend under arrest. The text also said that he was to notify him that he had called 911 so that he could clean the house before the officers arrived.
The man said his son lived with him as a "guardian" but his care had gotten worse over the past few months.
The affidavit stated that the man did not want his son to get into trouble, but felt that he was being treated “not like a human being” and was afraid that he would die if he continued to live like this.
The hospital staff said it was "a classic case of neglect".
The son confirmed that he was to be the guardian. He said he knew he didn't do it the best way, but "didn't know how bad it was" and "that the smell wasn't all that strong."
The police determined that the son did not care for his father and "knew it was wrong".
According to the affidavit, when the officers went to inspect the house, they said they smelled feces and urine outside at the front door. Once inside, they said there was food in the refrigerator and that the sleeping area where the man's son and his girlfriend slept was "clean and tidy."
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However, the bedroom, they said, was a mess. The sheriff's office said they saw feces on the floor, bed and "on every surface in sight." They also said that there was rubbish and cockroaches everywhere so it was impossible to see the floor.
They also saw plastic bottles filled with urine in the room and a rope that held the door closed, as described by the man.
Woods was taken to jail and taken on $50 bail.
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