Two people in Tennessee were arrested on child abuse charges after investigators learned they locked an autistic child, 7, in a storage trunk, according to officials.
Mikki Dee Moody, 36, and Sean David Moody, 39, were charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect and child endangerment after investigators served a search warrant on their home in an unrelated case.
On Thursday, the Carter County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in serving a search warrant on Blevins Hollow Road in Elizabethton, Tenn.
Investigators arrived at the home and met the two suspects and a child who lives there who investigators learned has autism and is non-verbal.
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The TBI took Sean David Moody into custody on a warrant charging him with abuse of a vulnerable adult. Agents and investigators then executed the search warrant on the residence and found unsanitary living conditions.
“It was discovered while conducting the search of the residence that living conditions were unsanitary,” Carter County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Preston White said in a statement. “Multiple electrical wall outlets contained exposed wiring, and animal and human feces was discovered on the floor coverings.”
“Information obtained during the initial investigation led to the discovery of a brown colored storage trunk in the living room area,” White continued. “The trunk contained urine-soaked blankets, a pillow, half-eaten pizza, and clothing that contained a substance consistent with blood.”
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Investigators said they learned the child would be locked in the storage trunk with food. Investigators subsequently contacted the Department of Children’s Services about what they discovered.
Mikki Dee Moody and Sean David Moody were booked into the Carter County Detention Center. Mikki Dee Moody was released after posting a $75,000 bond.
The case remains under investigation.
