'We just tried to do the best that we could': Florida woman who locked adopted son in cage-like room gets probation

Main image: Tracy Ferriter appears during her sentencing hearing on June 24, 2024 (Screengrab/WPEC); Inset: Ferriter appears in her February 2022 booking photo (Jupiter Police Department)

A Florida mother who locked her adopted son in a tiny, cage-like room, custom-built specifically to house the boy like a prisoner in his own home, pleaded guilty on Monday and walked away with probation.

Tracy Ferriter, 48, pleaded guilty to one count each of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment, and child neglect for the torture-like punishment meted out to the boy. For several weeks in late 2021 and early 2022, she and her husband, Timothy Ferriter, 48, forced their son to live in the eight-by-eight foot room in the family’s garage.

In exchange for her admissions of guilt, 15th Circuit Court Judge Howard Coates sentenced the defendant to 10 years of probation.

The formal mea culpa resulted in a stark sentencing divide. In October 2023, Timothy Ferriter was convicted on the same suite of charges. The next month, he was sentenced by the same judge to five years in a Sunshine State prison to be followed by five years of probation.

While Tracy Ferriter did accept legal culpability for the abuse, she also defended her family’s actions after the sentencing hearing.

“We were living a life that is not what is portrayed in the media,” she said, through tears, during a press conference. “There was a lot of things that nobody knew. We were a completely loving family. I love my kids. We just tried to do the best that we could with what we had.”

In addition to the decade of probation, Tracy Ferriter will also have to complete 300 hours of community service, must undergo a mental health evaluation, attend anger management and parenting classes, and cannot have any contact with her husband or the victim.

The Ferriters were initially arrested on Feb. 8, 2022 , on child abuse and false imprisonment charges. At the time, law enforcement alleged the abuse began in 2017 — spanning some five years. The specific room in the garage, however, was only built in December 2021, a contractor later told investigators with the Jupiter Police Department.

After completing the work, the builder contacted police and described the project as “very strange,” according to an arrest affidavit.

“The room was built as an 8-foot-by-8-foot space in the garage with its own ceiling and door,” the affidavit reads. “[The worker] further advised the door had added a bolt lock and knob only on the outside, no knob inside so if someone were inside the office they would not be able to exit until someone opened the door for them from the outside. [The worker] state he was also instructed to build this space with electricity and install a window air conditioning unit as well as a camera in the ceiling.”

The contractor’s story eventually became of a piece with a runaway child investigation that began on Jan. 30, 2021.

By New Year’s Eve that year, the boy was found at school and detectives began interviewing him. Soon thereafter, a cover story began to fall apart. Tracy Ferriter told police the structure was used as an office, according to West Palm Beach-based CBS affiliate WPEC ,

The woman’s story allegedly shifted a few times. She later told police the structure was also used as a storage room before eventually saying it was occasionally used by all of her children, police said.

“I feel like no one loves me,” the boy reportedly told police — explaining the reason for having run away from his parents.

According to police, the boy said he was spanked, hit with a belt and jump rope, and spit on. During his interview with law enforcement, he allegedly asked to be put in jail so he didn’t have to go back home.

The teen’s siblings allegedly confirmed many details of the abuse. Additionally, police said, investigators were able to corroborate some allegation by viewing saved footage — thousands of videos — compiled by the Ring camera inside of the child’s longtime prison.

“The juvenile was able to attend school; however, was confined to the structure during the remainder of the day,” the Jupiter Police Department said at the time of the arrests. “Meals were brought to the child, and the bucket was provided for bathroom use.”

The couple’s cases were severed on a request from the husband’s defense attorney, who claimed the wife made inconsistent statements throughout the investigation.

During Timothy Ferriter’s trial and subsequent sentencing hearing, the defense scored several key victories that appeared to culminate in the judge being convinced the parents were, however incorrectly, trying their best to discipline a child who made life difficult.

“He at least thought he was dealing with a problem child,” Coates said last year — but said he had to show society cannot countenance the extreme methods of punishment used to discipline the boy.

More Law&Crime coverage: In sentencing hearing, judge empathizes with abuse victim and Florida father who locked his adopted son in a tiny cage-like room and beat him with a belt

Underlying the father’s sentence, ultimately somewhat lenient, was some of the victim’s behavior. The boy had previously testified during the trial that he was, in fact, hard to discipline.

“The last thing I want to do is hate,” he said. “I still love you, and I will continue to love you for the rest of my days … Just remember that I’m still your son, and I’ll always remember that I’m still a Ferriter.”

The maximum sentence that could have been imposed on Timothy Ferriter was 40 years in prison. The state asked for 15 years; sentencing guidelines suggested six years and four months.

Tracy Ferriter’s lawyers said they were prepared to make the case, had it gone to trial, something of an information session on reactive attachment disorder (RAD), which the victim allegedly has been diagnosed with, and a referendum on parents dealing with such issues.

“It was a completely different case than what was presented through her husband’s case,” defense attorney Marc Shiner said at the post-hearing press conference. “Even though she had a very good chance of being exonerated, she really wanted to put this to rest so her children could have some peace.”

The post ‘We just tried to do the best that we could’: Florida woman who locked adopted son in cage-like room gets probation first appeared on Law & Crime .