Frank McKay, 41, and Adecia Johnson, 38, face felony aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment charges after authorities found they had used zip-ties to routinely bind a 13-year-old to plywood, and forcing the child to sleep without a mattress or any linens, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The zip-ties were strung together to form a makeshift rope for minor movement.
“He was zip-tied to that piece of plywood for at least two months, and more specifically over the last week or so the individuals who were taking care of him were not giving him proper food or linens or a mattress at all,” Kaitlyn Perez, spokesperson for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, said, according to Fox 13.
The young victim told authorities that McKay gave him a salad, a banana and two bottles of water each day while he was bound to the plywood. Detectives later discovered that the 13-year-old was also tied to a glass sliding door during visits to Johnson’s house.
Sarasota County sheriff’s deputies say the couple admitted they tied the child up to discipline him, according to the Bradenton Herald, for stealing food and money. The victim told police he stole money so he could buy snacks at school because he wasn’t being fed enough at home.
“The child stole food and the individual arrested today was upset about him having access to food and stealing food and so he removed his mattress and zip-tied him to wood,” Perez said. “To walk into a home like that and see pieces of plywood, it’s beyond inhumane.”
Johnson said “the family eats healthy” in defending the small amount of food that was provided to the child each day. She also told police they limited the child’s food and bound him as a “form of punishment,” denying allegations that they had abused him.
According to deputies, McKay once threatened the child’s safety with a “cooking ax” when he caught him stealing a piece of candy.
Authorities revealed that McKay has over a dozen prior arrests in Sarasota County for crimes including Contempt of Court for Non Payment Child Support, Burglary and Possession of Cocaine. Both McKay and Johnson are currently being held in custody without bond.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation into McKay and Johnson is still ongoing.
Sarasota, a city south of Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast, has one of the highest crime rates — 41 per 1,000 residents — in America compared to communities of all sizes, according to Neighborhood Scout. Around 82 percent of all Florida communities have a crime rate lower than Sarasota, whose roughly 57,000 residents have a 1 in 25 chance of becoming victim to either a violent or property crime in the area.
