A man and his girlfriend are in jail in Oklahoma after he allegedly tied his teen daughter to a tree in the backyard for several days!
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to a child abuse complaint at a home in Vera on Sunday, July 28. A woman told the police over the phone that a 15-year-old girl was tied up in the backyard and had “a hole in her leg and lesions on her arms,” per the affidavit. The caller claimed the teen was there for three days and she was sneaking food to her. When cops arrived at the scene, what they found was horrific.
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Beside a red shed and a chicken coop, they saw the 15-year-old sitting on a piece of carpet with a bandage below her knee and a “ratchet-style tie down strap around her,” the affidavit states. OMG! Authorities say the teenager, her father, Johnny James, and his girlfriend Kayla Clark (above right picture) were visiting Oklahoma from Texas at the time. According to the deputies, a woman the girl identified as her grandmother “did not want to be truthful” at first and claimed she had no idea about the teen’s alleged mistreatment.
She was allegedly in the background for several days, and the grandma knew nothing?! Seriously? Well, it turns out the grandmother did! She eventually admitted she was aware of what happened but was “too afraid” of the girl’s dad to say something. When James returned home, the affidavit claimed he immediately owned up to everything! Brace yourselves for the f**ked up reason he gave to the police… The affidavit says the father told the deputies he tied his daughter up because “she cannot be trusted and likes to lie.”
WHAT?!
James then insisted she was not tied down long — only for an hour while he was gone. And this wasn’t the first time he did this, either! The dad allegedly told the cops he tied her up on only two different occasions:
“Johnny explained the times she is left outside was to go to the store or church this morning due to her peeing and pooping on herself and not wanting it inside so they sat her outside that way there is no mess. When Johnny was asked, he stated this was the only option to keep her restrained because he did not know what else to do to help her.”
Hmm. Per the affidavit, he further blamed the situation on the girl wanting to live with her mom instead of him. After speaking with law enforcement, James allegedly admitted he “sees now he will need to figure out another solution” moving forward. As for the girlfriend? When asked by police about the girl being tied up, Clark claimed “she was taking a shower and did not know anything took place” and was so “frazzled” when they left for church in the morning that she didn’t see her outside.
Ultimately, James and Clark were arrested. The dad was charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect, while the girlfriend was charged with enabling child neglect. They are both held on $500,000 bail. Meanwhile, the teenager was transported to a local hospital and treated for her injuries. She — and other kids found in the home — were placed in DHS Child Welfare custody.
Our hearts break for this poor girl. There’s no excuse for what James allegedly did! It was so cruel and disgusting. And we hope she gets some justice. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via Washington County Sheriff’s Office]
