A mother, who miraculously avoided serving jail time for locking her adopted son in an eight-foot-by-eight-foot box for several hours each day, claimed to have fostered a "loving" family as she was placed on house arrest over her abuse.
Tracy Ferriter, 48, tried to convince a court that she created "a loving family" following her arguably light sentence in regards to her culpability in the "Boy in the Box" case. The despicable mom must serve probation and some time on house arrest over her crimes. On June 24, she entered a guilty plea to one count of first-degree aggravated child abuse , one count of third-degree felony false imprisonment and one count of third-degree child neglect.
The evangelical mother of four and her husband Timothy maintained that locking the teen in the box was proper discipline. They said he'd lie, steal valuables, attack relatives and threaten to harm fellow classmates.
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The boy, who had been adopted by the Florida couple as a toddler from Vietnam, was said to suffer from ADHD and Reactive Attachment Disorder, which is said to make it difficult for a child to form emotional bonds. "We were living a life that's not what is portrayed in the media," Ferriter claimed in a press conference following the hearing, as seemed like she was forcing tears to run down her cheeks.
"There was a lot of things that nobody knew," she insisted. "We were a completely loving family. I love my kids. We just tried to do the best that we could with what we had."
The Ferriters were arrested in February 2022 after their adopted son ran away from home and informed officers about his mother's box method. He reportedly told them he'd rather be locked away in prison than abused by his extremely devout Catholic parents. The affidavit says the teen told cops that he escaped the home "because I feel like nobody loves me."
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He begged authorities to take him in as he refused to return to his foster parents. He eventually opened up to officers, describing a hellish living scenario where he was banned from the rest of his house, fed leftovers and forced to go to the bathroom in a bucket. He also claimed the Ferriters whipped him, beat him with a belt, struck him with their hands and spat on him.
All the while he was monitored via a Ring camera and let out only for lessons and yard work.
"[The victim] stated the spankings would take place in his bedroom and he would be naked bent over his bed. [The victim] stated he could recall one spanking was so painful he fell off his bed in pain," the affidavit states.
Investigators would eventually seize the Ring camera footage and find evidence that supported the teen's allegations.
"In one video in particular [the victim] was locked in his room after being found to have “stolen” chocolate cookies from the kitchen despite being told he was not allowed to have them," an arrest affidavit states. "This behavior resulted in [the victim] having the covers removed from his mattress, his mattress picked up and tossed against the wall and Timothy grabbing [the victim] against the arm yelling at him."
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