Stepfather Charged in Alleged Abuse of 15-Year-Old Autistic Girl

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for a Gwinnett County man who faces charges that he and his wife abused and starved her autistic teenage daughter and kept her confined to a small room.

The 15-year-old daughter reportedly weighed less than 60 pounds, had bruises all over her body and was kept in a closet that “reeked of feces and urine,” police said.

The girl’s stepfather, William Anthony Brown, of La Mesa Drive in Lawrenceville, faces charges of cruelty to children and false imprisonment, both felonies. He was booked into the Gwinnett Count Jail Monday, according to jail records.

His wife, Jade Marie Jacobs, was arrested and charged with the same crimes on Aug. 1.

Last week, a judge denied bond for Jacobs, calling her a flight risk.

A court date for Brown is set for Sept. 5 in front of a Gwinnett Magistrate judge, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Jacobs was arrested after Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite called police to report the suspected abuse.

The mother called 911 before taking her daughter to the hospital, telling the dispatcher her daughter was becoming more violent toward her three younger sisters (ages 9, 11 and 13) and was cutting herself, the AJC reported.

Jacobs reportedly told police that the girl’s bruises came from fighting with her siblings, and her malnourishment was because she didn’t eat regularly.

A Gwinnett County detective testified in Jacobs’ hearing last week that the room the girl was kept in was about the size of a cubicle and had a small exercise mat on the floor. He said the girl’s clothes were covered in urine and feces.

Detective Brian Dorminy also testified that a heavy dumbbell hand weight was propped up against the door to the room to keep it closed.

Each of the sisters told police the 15-year-old was kept in a closet in the basement bedroom of the oldest sister (the 13-year-old) because she was violent to them.

Read more on this story here

(Photo: William Anthony Brown. Gwinnett County Jail mugshot)