Thread: 10-year-old girl locked in closet for days.

Police Rescue Malnourished Girl From Closet in Kansas City

A Kansas City, Mo., mother is behind bars, accused of keeping her 10-year-old daughter locked in a closet, not letting her come out to eat, sleep or even go to the bathroom.
The girl weighed just 32 pounds, and hospital records indicated that she has only gained 6 pounds since she was 4 or 5 years old, according to a police probable cause statement. The girl also suffers from "multiple healing skin injuries and failure to thrive," the statement said.
"She weighed a little over a third of what a 10-year-old should weigh," Kansas City Police Capt. Steve Young said. "We don't know how long or how frequently she's been in there [the closet], but it's clear she'd spent a significant amount of time in there."
Kansas City police met Missouri Children's Division workers outside the apartment building Friday morning after the division received a hotline call about a girl who was locked up and unable to eat or use the restroom.
When a division worker told two women outside the apartment that three children lived in the apartment, the neighbors said they had never seen the third child even though they'd lived there for "several years."
"We never knew of her the whole three years we've been down here," Kimberly Kelley, another neighbor, told ABC's affiliate in Kansas City, KMBC-TV. "She told us she only had two kids."
Officers learned the mother, Jacole Prince, 29, was out with her two younger children, but maintenance let law enforcement inside, according to the probable cause statement.
The second floor smelled strongly of urine, and when officers noticed a crib pushed against a closet door that was tied off with rope, they asked, "Is anyone in here?"
A child's voice answered, "Yes."
The girl was found standing in the closet, according to the statement. She told officers "the closet was her room," and she couldn't go to breakfast with her mother and sisters because she "messes herself." She also sleeps there, she said.
At the hospital, the child told detectives she had not been let out of the closet for two days, and she does not eat every day. She said her mother gets mad and "punches her on the back" because she "keeps peeing on herself."
She is not allowed to play outside like her sisters, and instead has to play behind the couch, the girl said.
That night, police arrested the girl's mother and her boyfriend. The mother allegedly admitted to locking her child up in part because she knows she would get in trouble if anyone saw how malnourished the girl had become, according to the statement.
Her boyfriend denied knowing the mother ever locked the 10-year-old in a closet.
The girl's mother was charged with assault in the first degree, child abuse, and endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, according to the criminal complaint. All three charges are felonies.

Source

I honestly think this is disgraceful. There's a line between discipline and torture and I just feel bad for this girl.

What do you guys think? Discuss.

That's horrible and undoubtedly child abuse. I hope the mother gets what she deserves.

One of the saddest things I have ever read. I hope that the mother gets put away in jail forever.

Reminds me of Genie, but to a lesser extent. Regardless, it's very unfortunate what happened to the girl, and I wouldn't wish this sort of action on anyone. Even prisoners are allowed exercise, food, and hygienic facilities.

I think the mother's perspective should be considered before we jump to conclusions.

Originally Posted by MaxMilvana

I think the mother's perspective should be considered before we jump to conclusions.

What justified reason is there to do that to a child. That is just disgusting. That mother is a horrible mother.

Well, if the child is prone to violent outbursts, then the mother may have simply acted out of fear. I didn't say she did the right thing; only that we should consider both sides of the story.

If the child is prone to violent outbursts then the mother should find out why, and the fact that the child was most likely being locked up like that for five years, a five year can't do that much damage, nor can a malnourished ten year old. The mother should have been taking proper care of her.

Whatever reasons the mother has, it's just common sense that locking up a child in a closet isn't the smartest thing to do in the world.

Yeah even if she would come up with a "valid" excuse as to why , such as the child being prone to violent outburst, locking her child up in a closet isn't the best solution.

Aw, I feel so sorry for the little girl. I hope she gets better.

As for the mother... shame on her. Locking your little girl in a closet for ANY reason is just flat out wrong!!

First, that's not nice. Second, a parent should never be so mean to a child. The mother deserves that, and the child needs to be helped.

I remember watching programs on TV about people who were locked away from the world...it's a scary thought to think that it even happens. Heck, there's probably cases of it we don't know about as of right now that are just making a child grow more insane by the minute.

Reminds me of how Ghetsis treated N...

What probably scares me most about this is that I was thinking, at some points, to do this to myself - cut off from the outside world in every shape and form. It's a part of growing up, I guess, but it still scares me about the possibility.

I didn't get anything about violent outbursts. I got the mother locks the girl up for not getting to use the toilet and the mother's being scared someone would find out she does that to the girl. I guarantee you the fear she felt about that is nothing compared to the fear she'd experience in the girl's situation. Not only is she a sociopath, she's an idiot too, if her solution to the girl wetting herself includes not letting her use the toilet. She needs to be kept from any position of responsibility and serious mental help.
The boyfriend doesn't strike me as too bright or observant either, if the fact that the girl never left the apartment or the fact that the closet was roped off and blocked shut honestly didn't raise a red flag (not that I believe his story). I wouldn't count on him to be a good parent either.
I feel bad for the girl, she can't deserve to have lived the life she has so far. I hope things really start to shape up for her.

Originally Posted by Iron Defense

The boyfriend doesn't strike me as too bright or observant either, if the fact that the girl never left the apartment or the fact that the closet was roped off and blocked shut honestly didn't raise a red flag (not that I believe his story). I wouldn't count on him to be a good parent either.

It certainly seems to me that he probably did know about the girl but is just shutting up for the mom.


Also, as many of you have said, no matter how the child acted parents shouldn't lock them up in closets period. If the child was threatening the mother's well being the mother should have called the police.