AR Couple Face 270 Child Abuse, Rape Charges After Agencies Ignored Hotline Reports

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Baxter County couple is facing 270 charges for child abuse that has been described as “torture” lasting over a decade.

The case has lawmakers asking why the Division of Children and Family Services failed to act after receiving dozens of child abuse hotline reports concerning the family for over ten years.

Jaclyn Barnett and Daniel Wright were first arrested last November for false imprisonment, permitting child abuse, and other charges after police found their 15-year-old son held captive and naked in their apartment.

Neighbors heard the boy’s cries for help and called police. An affidavit said he was low-functioning and small for his age. The boy said he was locked naked in the bathroom every night and was only let out to go to school, which was the only place he received food. An investigation revealed that since 2013, there had been 29 hotline reports of child abuse concerning the family. But those reports appear to have been deemed unsubstantiated, because no action was taken by caseworkers.

“DHS did not do what we believe they should have done to identify a repeated call made about the same household. And because of this, this abuse went on for a substantial period of time," said 14th Judicial District Prosecutor David Ethredge.

At an October committee meeting, outraged Arkansas lawmakers demanded the Department of Human Services, which oversees the Division of Children and Family Services, explain its failure to address the abuse.

“I think a lot of us were awakened to some very disturbing things in that October meeting when we discovered that DCFS had known about this case for 11 years and had not taken serious action," said State Rep. Ryan Rose, (R) District 48.

After their arrest last year, Barnett and Wright lost custody of the boy, who is not their biological son—but not of other minors in the household.

Last week they were arrested again, this time for the alleged rape and sexual assault of one of those other children.

“The fact that they were able to bond out initially and still maintain primary custody of other minor children is wrong on every level," said State Sen. Scott Flippo, (R) District 23, chair of the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

KATV asked DHS why dozens of hotline reports going back a decade about the family weren’t acted on and what the department is doing to ensure it never happens again. They provided KATV this statement:

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Arkansas couple face 270 child abuse, rape charges after agencies ignored hotline reports

A Baxter County couple is facing 270 charges for child abuse that has been described as “torture” lasting over a decade. The case has lawmakers asking why the D

katv.com