"John" MARSHALL - 12 yo - (3/2012) /Arrested: Michael Marshall and Sharon Glass - Titusville FL

Fla. boy allegedly kept in locked closet

ASSOCIATED PRESS
   
    March 17, 2012

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - When Florida police checked out a child abuse
report, they found an emaciated boy lying on the floor inside a locked
bathroom at his home, apparently punished for stealing food. The boy was
rushed to the hospital, where workers treated him for severe
malnutrition and dehydration.

The 12-year-old boy’s father and his girlfriend have been charged
with aggravated child abuse and child neglect. Two other children at the
home have been removed as child welfare officials investigate.

According to a police report, the boy - weighing just 40 pounds - was
locked in a bathroom, strapped to a bed, or caged in a closet for days
or weeks at a time over the past year.


Brevard County Jail records show Michael Marshall, 38, and Sharon Glass, 48,
have been charged with three counts each of aggravated child abuse and
three counts each of child neglect. A judge ordered both be held without
bond. It was not immediately clear if they have a lawyer.

The Titusville Police Department received a report of a young child
being unlawfully caged and abused, though the report doesn’t spell out
whether there was a cage inside the closet.

Marshall is the father of the 12-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. Glass is the mother of the 5 year-old boy.

The two other children at the home were being seen by doctors, said
Carrie Hoeppner, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Children and
Families.

“No doubt that the younger two have been subjected to mental abuse,’’ Hoeppner said.

Welfare officials investigated neglect allegations and concerns about the home environment in the summer of 2010.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/03/16/florida-couple-allegedly-kept-emaciated-boy-locked-closet/JzqwnXHBIlIasiQKn5j6gO/story.html

The ex of Glass is trying to obtain custody of his son who was living in that house hold. 3 of his children were living there but 2 of them are adults.

He had reported abuse to DCF several times but nothing was done.

Disturbing details released in case of boy confined to closet


BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. —
Eyewitness
News has learned of disturbing new details in the case involving a
Brevard County boy who was found starving and confined to a closet.

The boy's father and his father’s girlfriend were arrested last week.

WFTV
just found out on Thursday, how easy it was for his caregivers to pull
him out of school and legally hide him without anyone ever asking
questions.

Investigators told WFTV that on Christmas Day the boy
was brought out of the closet and was told he had presents. Instead, he
was forced to watch his siblings open their gifts and was given a
stocking full of coal.

It has been a tough month for abuse cases
in Central Florida. First there was a 13-year-old boy in Lakeland who
authorities said was forced to kneel nine hours a day for 10 days
straight as punishment. Then there was the case in Brevard County,
where investigators found the 40-pound boy who had been forced to live
in a closet.

Both shared a common bond. They had been removed from their school districts to be home schooled.

"Isolation
is one of the things we see in a case of egregious abuse," said Carrie
Hoeppner of the Florida Department of Children & Families.

Officials
said the Brevard County boy's stepmother even kept up with his school
portfolio so as to not raise suspicion. But home-schooling in the state
does require one face-to-face meeting with a teacher for an annual
exam.

Investigators believe his parents knew this, and so they
told the district they were pulling him out of home school to attend
private school. And that is where school district oversight ends.

Statewide, there is no follow-up by the district to ever see if that child actually attended a private school.

Parents
can also tell a school district they are moving out of state, and again
there is no follow-up to make sure that child is in a school.

Child
safety advocates said the law allows children to essentially disappear,
which in long-term abuse cases may be what is necessary to hide their
injuries.

“You're essentially hiding the child and the child can be under the radar for a very, very long time," said Hoeppner.

The
boy celebrated his 13th birthday on Wednesday. He is now in the care of
his grandparents, who DCF said had previously stayed away from the
family and were unaware of his living conditions.

Meanwhile, DCF continues to monitor the boy to make sure he is recovering properly.

Experts
told Eyewitness News that teachers are very important in reporting
child abuse. Typically, investigators said they see a huge dip in
caseloads during the summer when school is out. However, in August when
classes resume, reports of child abuse surge by 25 percent.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/disturbing-details-released-case-boy-confined-clos/nLZ3F/

Posted: 4:22 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014

Boy testifies he was tied up, starved for days at a time in Titusville

 

Sharon Glass in court


Boy testifies he was tied up, starved for days at a time in Titusville


Testimony resumes in child abuse case

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. —

Testimony resumed Wednesday in the trial of a Brevard County woman accused of starving a child.

Two years ago, Channel 9 reported the horrifying details of how Sharon Glass and the boy's father, Michael Marshall, were accused of caging and starving a then-12-year-old boy for weeks at a time.

Investigators said the boy spent months locked up in a closet, bathroom or tied to his bed over the course of a year.

The young victim told jurors Wednesday the abuse began with an accusation he took an iPod. Before long, anytime anything was missing, he was the one to blame and was punished for it.


Glass barely looked at the boy as she sat in court Wednesday.

It wasn’t until March 2012 that a family friend tipped police off. When detectives showed up at the child's home, they found him starving, weighing only 40 pounds.

Prosecutor: "What did they feed you?"

Victim: "Um, noodles, like macaroni noodles."

Other days the boy said he didn't eat at all.

Prosecutor: "Did Sharon ever bring you food?"

Victim: "No, 'cause she said it was my dad's responsibility."

Prosecutor: "Do either Sharon or Mike talk to you while you're in the closet?"

Victim: "Not unless they were trying to tell me to be quiet, basically, because I was crying."

One witness said Tuesday that he was as shocked by the pictures of the victim as he was when he saw the boy in 2012.
Glass and Marshall are accused of neglect and abuse.

In court, jurors saw food that was taken from the couple's Titusville home, but a detective testified the child wasn't getting any of it, and was very pale and emaciated when he was found.

"The only way I can describe it is he looked almost like a skeleton," he said. "He was very, very thin."

The victim and two other children were removed from Glass' home.

"I heard it and I just said, 'Please God don't let it be him,' and then they said his name," said his former teacher, Rhonda Rochon. "He was thin and small then, now it is quite a bit ... it's shockingly different."

Rochon said she warned DCF and the police about the boy's condition in 2010 after the elementary school suspected Marshall and Glass were starving him.

DCF investigated the family, but did not find anything criminal. Now, officials are looking back at those findings to make sure nothing was overlooked.

Investigators also said that another child, a 10-year-old sibling of the abused boy, was sometimes locked in a closet for several days at a time and forced to stand guard while the older child was caged.

During the trial, jurors are expected to hear the victims' testimony.

Marshall, 40, also faces charges in the case. He has a hearing scheduled for later this month.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/trial-begins-suspect-accused-starving-child-titusv/ncfYC/

Fla. boy describes being locked up, starved by pair

Andrew Ford, Florida Today 7:28 a.m. EST January 9, 2014

Father's mate accused of aggravated child abuse.

(Photo: Andrew Ford, Florida Today)

Story Highlights

• Boy said he was locked in a closet, secured by a bungee cord
  
• He told court he was given diapers so he wouldn't have to be let of the room to relieve himself
  
• On Christmas 2011, the boys said he was let out of a bathroom to watch other children open gifts
  

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — For a moment, the boy smiled. He laughed. He talked about Star Wars and Lego. He looked much better than he did in photos taken two years ago.

Just a few minutes before he arrived in court Wednesday for the trial of a woman accused of starving him nearly to death, the state laid out evidence against her. An investigator held up the tiny Spiderman pajamas he was wearing when he was found — boys size 8. Prosecutors showed photos of how he looked at the time. Intense light blue eyes. Gaunt cheeks. Skeletal ribs.

But when he walked into the courtroom, there were no obvious signs of what had happened. He's now 14, not quite 5-feet tall, pale, slender but healthy. He had freckles, ears that stick out, a short, smart haircut. He wore a gray track jacket over a blue polo shirt buttoned to the throat.
.
He spoke softly as he recounted his time with Sharon Glass, who faces multiple felony charges, including aggravated child abuse. Police said she and Michael Marshall were caregivers for the boy and other children. Marshall is in jail awaiting trial on similar charges.

On the stand, the boy gave short answers to the prosecutor's questions. He first met Glass in 2009, when he was in the third grade. She was dating Marshall, his father. Soon, they were living together. Soon, he called her "mom."
Soon, he started getting in trouble.

The first time he recalled in court was when Glass accused him of stealing an iPod. He testified he didn't take it. He was later accused when other things went missing. He was punished for taking fruit off a tree and for stealing food.

About a week before Christmas 2010, a fire destroyed their home. They stayed in a hotel. That would be one of many tough holidays for the boy. Through his description of the abuses that followed, he didn't shed a tear. He didn't falter or change his tone of voice. Glass remained equally expressionless.

The most serious punishment came in the house on Barna Avenue.

"I was constantly locked up," he told prosecutors.

When he was put in his room, the boy would escape. When he did, Glass told Marshall she'd leave him if he didn't lock the boy up.
The boy told the court they put him in a closet, secured with a bungee cord and a desk. He stood before the jury to illustrate with a laser pointer how they wrapped a cord around the knobs of the sliding closet doors to keep him inside. Glass and Marshall wouldn't talk to him.

"Not unless they were telling me to be quiet, basically," he said.

He'd sleep on a pile of clothes. When they took that away, he'd pull his arms and legs inside his shirt to stay warm. But he got in trouble for stretching it out.

They gave him diapers so they wouldn't have to let him out to relieve himself.

He said holidays passed while he was inside — Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter. He ate macaroni noodles. Ramen noodles. Sometimes canned vegetables.

When he did get out of the closet, he'd take food and hide it. Rolls, hamburgers, anything.

"They'd find a way to keep me secured," he said.

He said his dad zip-tied him standing to the post of a bunk bed. He stood there for three days. His dad spoon-fed him mashed potatoes. Glass saw, standing outside the door to the room.

The boy said he noticed himself getting smaller. He could wrap his hand around his arm. His clothes were baggy. He chewed through the zip ties and escaped.

But he got caught. He got in trouble.

Later, he said, they locked him in a bathroom. They put a board over the one small window in the room, because they thought he was getting out that way. He was warned against running away and he wouldn't leave through the window.

"Because it was too high," he said. Too high to get back in.

On Christmas 2011, he was let out of the bathroom to watch other children open gifts. He was put back in the bathroom and given a stocking full of coal.

"I just cried."

He waited until March 2012 to be rescued when a family friend raised the alarm. At the time, investigators said another month could have killed him.

After hours in court, the boy walked out of the room – away from stories of eating toothpaste to stave off hunger, away from the photo they showed him of his skinny self standing next to a police officer, away from drama that would later unfold when Glass cried as her own son testified about her.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/09/boy-describes-abuse-by-dad-woman/4387169/

Father who starved 12-year-old son down to 40lbs by keeping him locked in a closet  takes plea deal as his girlfriend gets life in jail

• Michael Marshall, 44, took a plea deal in court and told a judge he did it to help his son
  
• Marshall now faces between 19 and 30 years behind bars, but that's much less than his girlfriend, Sharon Glass, who faces life in prison
  
  
• Last month Sharon Glass, 49, was found guilty on eight counts of aggravated child abuse
  
• She abused her boyfriend's son by locking him in a cupboard
  
• The boy, now 14, who hasn't been identified, testified that he was starved
  
  
• He was rescued two years ago weighing just 40 pounds
  
  
• He didn't shed a tear as he recounted years spent locked up in a closet and a bathroom
  
  

By Daily Mail Reporter
Published: 17:30 EST, 7 February 2014 | Updated: 18:49 EST, 7 February 2014



The father of a 12-year-old boy who was found malnourished has accepted a plea deal for child abuse charges.

Michael Marshall and his girlfriend, Sharon Glass, were both arrested in March of 2012 after officials in Florida received a tip-off that the 12-year-old boy weighed only 40lbs and stood just 4'4.

An average 12-year-old boy weighs 75lbs to 100lbs and is about 5'0.

In court on Friday, 40-year-old Michael Marshall offered a mumbled and sometimes disturbing explanation for the starvation and caging of his son, who weighed only 40 pounds when he was discovered by police.




Brutal: Sharon Glass (left) has been found guilty of eight counts of aggravated child abuse and now faces up to 120 years behind bars while her boyfriend Michael Marshall (right) has worked out a plea deal that will see him serve no less 19 years in jail on similar charges
The boy told jurors when he was punished, he was locked in a bathroom for days, if not weeks, at a time.

'We weren't trying to hurt him,' said Michael Marshall. 'We were trying to help him and went the wrong way about it. We were trying to get him to be a good boy, basically.'

Marshall pleaded no contest Friday on multiple charges of aggravated abuse, false imprisonment and neglect.
When Marshall is sentenced in April, he will face a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Last month in a trial that ended in a guilty verdict for Marshall's girlfriend, Sharon Glass, 49, prosecutors said the boy was caged or tied up most of the time.

On the stand in her trial, Glass said Marshall took steps to cover up his son's condition.


Abuse: A 14 year old boy, who has not been identified, has described being starved nearly to death and locked in a closet for days on end by his father and his father's girlfriend

Glass, 49, from Brevard, was found guilty on eight counts of aggravated child abuse last Friday after four days on trial.

Pictures reveal the bathroom window was boarded up and the doorknob lock was reversed.

Desperate for food, the boy told jurors he ate toothpaste to stay alive.

In prior testimony, he said the parents gave him a stocking filled with coal for Christmas.

Both Glass and Marshall from Titusville in Florida, were charged with eight felony counts of child abuse.

Glass has already been convicted on all 8 counts of abuse and faces up to 140 years in prison.

She told the court that she hadn't noticed the boy was emaciated because he was always wearing baggy jumpers.

She also claimed she had nothing to do with disciplining the boy, who was regularly locked in a cupboard and tied to a bed post.

She said she wanted to leave the relationship with Marshall, but that during the four years she dated him he threatened to kill her several times.

During the trial the boy, now 14, described being starved nearly to death and locked in both a closet and a bathroom for days on end by his father and his father's girlfriend.



Trial: The boy testified at the child abuse trial of Sharon Glass, pictured, last month

The boy, without shedding a tear or changing his tone of voice, told the court they put him in a closet and secured the door with a bungee cord and a desk.

He even bravely illustrated with a laser pointer how they wrapped a cord around the knobs of the sliding closet doors to keep him inside.

When asked if Glass and Marshall would talk to him, he replied: 'Not unless they were telling me to be quiet, basically.'

They gave him diapers so they wouldn't have to let him out to use the bathroom and he was fed macaroni noodles, ramen noodles and sometimes canned vegetables.

When he was out of the closet he would take any food he could find and hide it, he said.


Evidence: The court was shown pictures of the closet the boy was locked in, pictured



Bathroom: He was also locked in this bathroom

Numerous holidays passed when he was locked away, including Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day and Easter. Later, he was locked in a bathroom after his father zip-tied him to the post of a bunk bed for three days and he chewed through the ropes to escape.

But he said on Christmas day in 2011 he was let out of the bathroom to watch other children who lived in the house open gifts. He was then put back inside with a stocking full of coal.

'I just cried,' he recounted.

He noticed himself getting smaller he said, and his clothes getting baggier. The court was shown a tiny pair of Spiderman pajamas, boys size 8, that he was found in and pictures showing a malnourished child with gaunt cheeks and skeletal ribs.
It wasn't until March 2012 that he was rescued from his hell, when a family friend raised the alarm.

At the time, investigators said another month of the alleged horrific abuse would have killed him.

Thankfully, there were no obvious signs of the trauma he endured when he appeared in court, now a teen, not yet 5-feet tall. He smiled at times and even laughed.





Arrest: The couple were finally arrested in March 2012 when the boy was freed



Rescued: The boy, with his face obscured, is seen in March 2012 when police rescued him from the home

Making the case all the more horrific is the fact that teachers at the child's school first reported his injuries to authorities some 17 months before he was eventually rescued.

Distraught teachers at South Lake Elementary School said they repeatedly called the Department for Children and Families to try to get help for the boy, then aged 12. The abuse started while he was a pupil at the school.

The boy moved to Apollo Elementary School where he spent just 10 days in class before being withdrawn to be home-schooled.

Marshall and Glass were angered because he was getting extra food at school, police said..

About two months after taking him out, they told the district he would attend a private school - essentially stopping the district's efforts to keep track of him and his education.


Home: Distraught teachers at South Lake Elementary School said they repeatedly called the Department for Children and Families to try to get help for the boy, then aged 12, but were ignored

'We tried, and we tried, and we begged,' said Ronda Rochon, the boy's teacher at the school he attended for third, fourth and fifth grade.

'I honestly thought the next call that I got about him was that he would be dead.'
Glass's ex-husband, Tony Glass, said he called DCF 12 times, concerned that his three children who lived with their mother were often dirty and had head lice.

'I called them so many times because of my concerns with the kids, they told me to stop calling,' he said.

'If you’re told by DCF to stop calling, what else can you do? Who else can you call?'
The last time the department looked into the complaints was 2010 when they decided there was not enough evidence to justify removing the boy from his father.
'There is a difference between reporting child abuse and reporting concern and being able to remove a child from their home,' DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner told MailOnline.

Speaking to Florida Today at the time she added: 'You can't remove a child on a hunch. Of all the resources we have, the one tool we don't have is a crystal ball.'



Begging for help: 'We tried, and we tried, and we begged,' said Ronda Rochon, the boy's teacher at the school he attended for third, fourth and fifth grade, of DCF


Action was eventually taken on March 15 when a woman walked into Titusville Police Department told officers her boyfriend had gone to a friend's home and had seen an emaciated boy locked in the bathroom.

Detectives went to the house and found the boy curled up on the floor.

Police said the boy would be zip-tied to a bed in a standing position and forced to sleep that way. To stop him from crying, a dirty sock was duct-taped in his mouth.

The couple arrived home while police were still at the property and reportedly confessed to caging and punishing the boy, including denying him food, according to Local 6 News.

They said they punished the boy because he began stealing food after it was being withheld from him, Titusville police said in the report.

Hospital staff said the condition of the child when he was found resembled images of  'concentration camp survivors.' He was severely malnourished and treated for dehydration.

The boy and two of his siblings have been in DCF custody since the ordeal.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2554265/Father-starved-12-year-old-son-40lbs-keeping-locked-closet-plea-deal.html