The woman and her husband were arrested in 2022 for allegedly locking their adopted son in a small, windowless room for hours, with only a “bucket for my urine and feces”; her lawyer, however, says the family lived with “daily fear and violence.”
Tracy Ferriter, one of two Florida parents accused of locking their adopted teenage son in a windowless 8×8 box in the family’s garage for hours at a time, has accepted a plea deal in the case.
On Monday, 48-year-old Ferriter pleaded guilty to felony charges of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment and child neglect. In exchange for her plea, she’ll serve 10 years probation and a year of house arrest, according to WPTV.
After the hearing, Ferriter spoke with the press — where she was asked whether she had any regrets for how she treated her son. While the video is unavailable to embed, it can be watched on YouTube by clicking the link above.
“We were living a life that is not what is portrayed in the media. There was a lot of things that nobody knew. We were a completely loving family. I love my kids. We just tried to do the best that we could with what we had,” she said.
When asked how she was feeling now, she added, “It’s tough because I’m doing this because I want my kids to not be part of this trial, have their names all over the media and they can move on.”
“But I know the way our family really was, I know the truth and what we were trying to do. We loved all of our children and we were trying to deal with something there’s no cure for,” she continued. “It’s a hard road and there’s not help for this condition. There’s not help that can help parents work through it.”
Palm Beach County Public Records
Florida Parents Arrested for Keeping Adopted Teen Son Locked in 8′ X 8′ Room for 5 Years: Police
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The attorneys by her side claimed the teen was diagnosed with RAD, or Reactive Attachment Disorder, which they said left him with a lack of a “moral compass” following “abuse he suffered at an orphanage.”
“Tracy was trying to protect her family, protect her children, she was trying to protect herself,” said one lawyer, while another claimed another one of her kids was prepared to testify to corroborate “the daily fear and violence that this family was put through and had to deal with.”
“Tracy’s not a monster. This is a human being who’s extremely educated, loving, adopted children out of the goodness of her heart. The media really got it wrong,” added her lawyer. “Unfortunately, we don’t know about children with RAD, Reactive Attachment Disorder and hopefully this brings some light to it. It’s horrible.”
As for why she accepted a guilty plea, her lawyer said it was to spare her children going through a trial. “She wanted it to be resolved,” said her attorney, “Even though she had a very good chance of being exonerated, she really wanted to put this to rest.”
“I had a bucket for urine and feces.”#TimothyFerriter’s adopted son takes the stand in the #BoyInTheBoxTrial. “RF” says his only option for a bathroom was to use a bucket in an 8×8 cell where Timothy allegedly locked him up.#CourtTV What do YOU think?⚖️ pic.twitter.com/t4gSPQReDU
— Court TV (@CourtTV) October 4, 2023
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The plea comes after her husband, Timothy Ferriter, did go to trial and was found guilty of one count each of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment, and neglect of a child last year.
During his trial, Palm Beach County jurors listened to seven days of testimony, according to local ABC affiliate WPBF, including hours of video footage from a Ring camera that revealed the inside of the small structure, in which the boy only had a bucket for a toilet.
As WPBF previously reported, the footage showed Tim cursing at the teen and throwing things around the room. He also reportedly threatened to keep the boy in the box much more in the future if he continued to act out in school.
The box inside the garage of Ferriter’s Florida home was first discovered after the teen ran away in January 2022. Police had already been alerted about the room by contractors who built it; once authorities found the boy, he allegedly told cops it was where he was confined for anywhere up to 16-18 hours.
According to evidence presented during the trial, per Law&Crime, the teen was previously locked in a similar structure in the family’s former Arizona home, starting when he was 11. The boy allegedly had no other bedroom in either home.
The Ferriters were arrested in Jupiter, Florida, in February 2022.
During Tim’s trial, their adopted son testified in court about the conditions inside the 8×8 structure in which he was kept. The boy, who has not been named and was 14 at the time of his parents’ arrests in 2022, took the stand in the case against his father. While he described the mistreatment as “dehumanizing,” he also said he believed his parents made a “mistake” and others should “forgive them and move on.”
He testified the windowless 8×8 room was built inside the garage. The structure had a twin mattress on a concrete floor, no windows, and both an air conditioner and lights he couldn’t control, he said. The boy claimed he was sometimes kept in total darkness, with locks on the outside preventing him from leaving on his own.
CourtTV
Teen Whose Parents Allegedly Made Him Live In 8×8 Box Testifies About ‘Dehumanizing’ Experience
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“It had a bucket for my urine and feces and that was it,” he added, saying the room would sometimes smell “putrid.” He also claimed he “received water occasionally but not on a regular basis.”
When asked by prosecutors how being in the room made him feel, he said, “To me, being locked in a room, it’s dehumanizing. It’s almost as bad as genocide. It’s saddening, to abuse a child that was just acting like a child.” He also said he would be “put into the room by physical force” if he resisted … and claimed his father once “smacked” him in the face and would “spank” him with a jump rope or belt, while yelling.
During the trial, the defense said Tim and his wife had to make “tough choices” about their son due to his behavioral issues. According to WPTV, Dr. Shiela Rapa, a witness for the defense, testified that the teen suffers from “reactive attachment disorder” — a condition in which a child doesn’t form a healthy emotional bond with their parents or guardians.
Tim’s defense attorney, Prya Murad, argued that Tim’s behavior was simply a case of “bad parenting,” but didn’t rise to the level of criminal, saying that the room was used for “monitoring” the child.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in November.
Law&Crime/YouTube
Florida Father Accused of Locking Teen Son in 8×8 Box Convicted of Child Abuse
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