Parents Accused of Imprisoning, Abusing Autistic Daughter

A Gwinnett County woman is behind bars without bond on charges that she and her husband kept her autistic daughter in a small room and abused her.

Jade Marie Anne Jacobs, 35, of La Mesa Drive in Lawrenceville has been charged with cruelty to children and false imprisonment. The stepfather is also being sought in the case.

Jacobs was arrested on Aug. 1, according to jail records.

Gwinnett Police spokesman Cpl. Ed Ritter said the room “reeked of feces and urine.”

WSB-TV reported the malnourished 15-year-old girl weighed only 60 pounds, was kept in a closet-sized room and had bruises all over her body.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said a nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite noticed signs of the alleged abuse when the mother dropped her off at the hospital and called police.

Police are looking for stepfather William Brown, who will face the same charges as Jacobs.

The AJC reported Jacobs has three other daughters — ages 9, 11, and 13 — who are now in state custody. None of those children showed signs of abuse.

Ritter said investigators believe the girl was confined to a 2-by-2-foot mat on which she lived.

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

But Ritter said the girl ate well at the hospital.

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