Dad Arrested After Leaving 15-Year-Old Daughter Strapped to Tree for 3 Days Over Bathroom Accidents, Police Report
A dad and his girlfriend were arrested in Oklahoma after police say they found the dad’s 15-year-old daughter tied to a tree in the garden, between a chicken coop and a shed.
James, 40, is in jail on charges of severe child abuse and neglect, and Clark, 42, is charged with enabling child neglect. A probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime says that on July 28, officers from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home in Vera, a small town in northeast Oklahoma about 25 miles north of Tulsa, because of a report of child abuse.
The affidavit said a woman told officers that a 15-year-old girl was tied up in the backyard and needed medical help because she had “a hole in her leg and lesions on her arms.” The person who called 911 said the girl had been there for three days and that they were going to steal food for 15-year-olds. Police say the 15-year-old girl and her family were visiting from Texas. She was sitting on a rectangular piece of carpet, leaning over at the waist, with a bandage below her knee and a “ratchet-style tie-down strap around her,” according to the statement. She was found next to a red shed and a chicken coop.
The 15-year-old told police that the woman they talked to was her grandmother. Deputies say the woman “did not want to be truthful” at first and said she didn’t know about the girl’s state. She is said to have then admitted that she knew what was going on but didn’t say anything because she was “too afraid” of James.
The affidavit said that James told officers right away that he had tied her up because “…she cannot be trusted and likes to lie.” He is said to have said that she was only tied down for an hour while he was away. James is said to have told officers twice that she was tied down.
The affidavit said, “Johnny explained that the only times she was left outside were to go to the store or church this morning because she peed and pooped on herself and didn’t want it inside, so they sat her outside so there wouldn’t be a mess.” „When asked, Johnny said this was the only way to hold her down because he didn’t know what else to do to help her.
James said that the girl’s behavior problems are because she wants to live with her mother. Not only did he tie her up, he also told the deputies that he “sees now he will need to figure out another solution.”
When police asked Clark about the 15-year-old girl being tied with the ratchet strap, she said, “She was taking a shower and didn’t know anything happened.” The statement says Clark was too “Frazzled” to see the girl sitting outside before they left for church that morning.
When deputies caught James and Clark, they took them to the Washington County Jail and put a $500,000 hold on each of them. They have a court date set for August 9.