A Tennessee couple has been arrested on child abuse charges after authorities found they had locked their 7-year-old autistic son in a filthy, excrement-covered storage room in their home.
Mickey Dee Moody, 36, and Shawn David Moody, 39, were charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect and child endangerment after investigators searched their Elizabethton home Thursday for an unrelated incident. WCYB reported.
After investigators arrived at the home and met with Mickey and Shawn Moody and the 7-year-old child, they learned the child is autistic and non-verbal, according to the report.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation arrested Sean David Moody on suspicion of abuse of a vulnerable adult.
According to the report, agents served a search warrant at the home and found unsanitary living conditions, including exposed wiring in wall outlets and animal and human waste on the floor.
In the living room, deputies found a urine-soaked blanket, a pillow, a half-eaten pizza and a storage trunk containing “clothing with a substance consistent with blood,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators say the child was locked in a storage trunk with food.
Both Mickey Moody and Shawn Moody were being held at the Carter County Detention Center on Thursday.
Mickey Moody was released on $75,000 bail.
