Woman describes horrifying tiny cell where Florida couple kept adopted son imprisoned 24x7
JUPITER, FLORIDA: A demolition company boss has described the horrible condition inside of a makeshift “prison cell” where a Florida couple allegedly imprisoned their “disturbed” teen son while keeping a constant watch on him through a video camera. Rebecca Miller saw the “claustrophobic” 8-foot by 8-foot structure after Tracy and Timothy Ferriter, who have been charged with “false imprisonment”, “cruelty towards child” and “aggravated child abuse”, hired her Demo Boyzz firm to demolish it. The Christain pair is currently out on bail after being arrested in early February.
The Ferriters, both aged 46, have claimed the space without any windows inside their garage as an office. But reportedly, it did not look like an office, where a CCTV camera was also found, which was allegedly installed to monitor the victim day and night as he spent up to 18 hours at a time.
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After witnessing the horrible room, Miller told Daily Mail: “My heart breaks for their kid after seeing it for myself. It's a prison cell, that's basically what it is, it was horrible. Imagine living like that with no control over anything, not even your own light switch. Not knowing when someone is going to come and punish you or if you're ever going to get out. I don't know if these people will go to jail or not, but if they do it will show them what it's like to live like a prisoner.”
The accused duo was arrested on February 8 after the child escaped the confinement and went to cops to tell them about the inhumane condition he was forced to live in. He even reportedly preferred to be inside a prison cell than living with the Ferriters, whose other three kids – aged two, 13, and 16 – enjoyed a normal childhood at the family’s $750,000 property.
It has been said that the suspects were first reported to police in December 2021 by builder Jacques Ben Aim, who was given $3,000 and a time limit of just two days to make a “very strange” room inside the garage. Though authorities found it suspicious, no action was taken at the time because of a lack of evidence.
However, on January 28 when Tracy contacted police saying her son, who reportedly suffered from “several behavioral disorders”, had gone missing, Detective Andrew Sharp got the chance to see the hidden cell, which included a bed, chair, a desk, and school books. Then the next day, the victim was found, who described the alleged horrifying condition he had been living in. He also accused his parents of beating him, feeding him leftovers, and forcing him to go to the toilet in a bucket. But the couple defended themselves in court filings while saying they were forced to do so because the teenager went to school equipped with weapons, assaulted their other children, and suffered from “long-standing dangerous and disturbing propensities”.
But entrepreneur Miller, whose team took down the cell, said, “There was no window, no space to do anything. It's just drywall all around you. It was a very well built structure. It would have been pitch black in there once they switched the light off from the outside. It would drive anyone crazy being locked inside there day after day.”
She also claimed to receive a threatening message from the Ferriters’ lawyer, who asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement otherwise she wouldn't get the outstanding $1,150 balance on the $3,450 job. Miller added: “I didn't sign anything and I won't. I don't feel bad for these people after seeing how their kid was living. It's crazy because they seem like such normal people. The neighborhood is normal, they have three dogs, they have money obviously. There were skateboards and a mini-fridge in the garage. Other than the box it was completely normal.”