ANKENY, Iowa (TCD) — A 46-year-old woman and her 47-year-old husband were arrested this week for allegedly abusing their 13-year-old adopted son over the course of four years and abandoning him at the hospital after a days-long stay there.
According to the affidavit shared by WHO-TV, between Nov. 19, 2018, and Nov. 14, 2022, Matthew and Sarah Stephens allegedly “deprived” their adopted son of food, shelter, and clothing. The affidavit says the Stephenses refused to let their son eat dinner, which in turn caused “significant weight loss.” They also allegedly forced the boy to stand outside — including in cold weather — for prolonged periods of time as a form of punishment.
The affidavit alleges Matthew and Sarah Stephens kept tabs on the teen by watching him through a hidden camera in his room and locked him inside with an alarm on the door. The boy was reportedly prohibited from taking showers at home, so he asked to bathe at school.
Other children in the home were reportedly “not subjected to any such treatment.”
The son was admitted to Mercy Hospital on Nov. 5, 2022, and stayed there until Nov. 14. Sarah Stephens, however, allegedly “refused to pick up the child when ready for discharge from the hospital.”
Polk County Jail records show Sarah and Matthew Stephens were booked into custody Feb. 15 on charges of child endangerment causing serious injury and abandonment of dependent person, but they bonded out the next day.
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