Georgia parents charged with child cruelty and negligent imprisonment of four teenagers

A pair of Georgia parents are facing child cruelty charges including for allegedly confining their four teenagers to their home by keeping them in their bedrooms for extended periods of time.

According to Fox 5 Atlanta, James and Cindy Spooner were each charged with first-degree child cruelty and four counts of false imprisonment, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators executed a search warrant at the family’s four-bedroom, ranch-style home in Whitesburg, Georgia, and found four teenagers – three girls and a boy – living in conditions investigators described as inhumane.

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The sheriff’s office said each child’s bedroom had a deadbolt lock on the outside of the door and exterior doors and windows were boarded up, apparently in an attempt to prevent the children from leaving the house.

The teens told investigators they were locked in their bedrooms for hours or even days with only a bucket for a toilet. The children also reported that they were given food only at their parents’ discretion.

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Four teenagers – three girls and a boy – lived in conditions investigators described as inhumane. (iStock)

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“This is a heartbreaking situation for these innocent children, and no one should be treated the way they have been,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “We pray for their mental and physical recovery and hope that the perpetrators of these terrible acts are harshly punished by the justice system.”

The case remains under investigation.