A couple in Arkansas will spend two decades in prison after they admitted to using a “ratchet strap” to lock the woman’s 15-year-old son up in a dark bathroom, leaving him there for days at a time without food or clothes.
Baxter County Circuit Judge Andrew Bailey sentenced Jaclyn Machelle Barnett and Daniel Alan Wright to each serve 20 years in a state correctional facility after they pleaded guilty to multiple felonies on Monday, May 18.
Additionally, the judge tacked on a seven-year suspended sentence and noted that the couple had already served 194 days at the time of their sentencing.
Barnett and Wright pleaded guilty to counts of first-degree kidnapping, false imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a minor and abuse of a minor as part of a plea deal.
Prior to their sentencing, both Barnett and Wright were originally facing more than 100 criminal charges and both of their trials were scheduled to begin this week.
Baxter County Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge said during the sentencing hearing that the victim suffered “horrific” abuse at the hands of his mother and stepfather, according to KTLO.
“For years, these children were abused, manipulated, and exploited,” Ethredge said. “Rather than providing love, safety and protection, these defendants chose greed and self-interest.”
Mountain Home Police Department officers first learned about the crime when they responded to the family’s home on November 2, 2024, after a downstairs neighbor heard what they believed was a child’s cries for help.
Upon their arrival, an officer met with two juveniles, who were ages 10 and 11, who allegedly said their parents were working and claimed they didn’t know that anyone was locked in the bathroom.
However, investigators said that they believed the children were coached to deny the other boy was in the bathroom by Barnett and Wright.
“It’s in my opinion, it’s in the opinion of some others as well, that these kids are no doubt coached, no doubt. Whether it be fear for themselves or what have you,” lead investigator Mike Day told KOLR.
The children then brought authorities to the back room where the noise had originated from.
“In the master bedroom, they found a ratchet strap that was attached to a bedpost, that was attached to the bathroom door where [the child] could not get out. The sergeant talked to the child behind the door, eventually let him out, and he discovered the child was in there with no clothes, and in fact, the child didn’t want to come out because he was embarrassed, because he had no clothes,” Day said. “He hadn’t eaten. He was hungry.”
The boy told investigators that he was regularly locked inside the bathroom, slept in there and only left for school.
Barnett and Wright later spoke to police and they both claimed to have no idea what the child was doing in the bathroom and blamed it on the other children.
Police then asked the younger children to use the ratchet strap, and neither one was able to properly use it. Barnett and Wright later changed their story and said they used the strap to make sure the bathroom door stayed closed due to a leaky faucet.
Barnett and Wright were ultimately charged with 112 counts of endangerment, which were determined by the number of days the boy went to school in 2024.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
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