A Georgia couple is behind bars after allegedly forcing their 3-year-old son to live in a filthy shed with no running water or electricity for nearly a month.
Joseph Matthew Turner, 35, and Sarah Elizabeth Pombert, 34, are accused of second-degree cruelty to children.
According to an arrest warrant from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Turner and Pombert forced the boy to live in a shed behind their home in the 7000 block of Judge Avenue in Douglasville, about 20 miles west of Atlanta, for three weeks.
Turner and Pombert caused “cruel/excessive, mental/physical pain” to the boy by keeping him in a “dirty living space in a shed without running water or electricity, and left the child unsupervised, unbathed, and unclothed with criminal negligence.” The alleged neglect occurred from May 1 to May 22.
Police filed the charges on May 29 and arrested the couple on June 2, according to court records.
Local ABC affiliate WSB spoke with neighbor Matthew Govoni, who said the shed burned down over Memorial Day Weekend, prompting the investigation.
According to Govoni, “there was a huge fire with explosions” that destroyed the shed. The warrant did not describe the fire or how investigators discovered the alleged abuse of the boy, who was not injured in the fire.
Govoni stated that the couple had lived in the home for about ten years and were not the best of neighbors. He wasn’t surprised by the allegations.
“With the lifestyle they live, I’m not surprised by any of that, really,” he told the news station.
The neighbor expressed sympathy for the boy.
“I’m saddened for them and the child, but I mean, for the child, I hope they can get to a place where they can be helped,” he told me.
Turner and Pombert remained in the Douglas County Jail on Sunday. It is unclear whether they have a lawyer.
