FL - Teen found chained to bed; Grandmother arrested

Alarmingly, Mathis was reportedly out of state visiting North Carolina with her fiance when investigators arrived to check on the children. While gone, she had arranged for family friend Kimberly Cooper to come over nightly and chain the teen to his bed, then lock the boys inside the room for the night before returning in the morning to let them out. But when police arrived at the home at 2:45 p.m., according to the affidavit, the teen was still chained to the bed and investigators had to call Cooper. She finally arrived at 4 p.m. to unlock him...

The victim, who has a reported history of mental illness and post traumatic stress disorder, told police that he deserved to be chained to the bed and the restraints were for his own good. "[He] said he would leave the home in the middle of the night and break into neighboring homes to steal food if he was not chained," read the police report.

The teen became increasingly agitated when he learned he could not speak to Mathis and as officers questioned his family. After he grabbed a broken broomstick and attempted to attack an officer, investigators transported him to hospital under the Baker Act. "Based on my investigation, it appears [he] suffers from a developmental disability and/or mental illness to the point that his ability to perform the normal activities of daily living are restricted," wrote an officer.

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The man disliked when officers questioned his relatives, police said. He grabbed a broken broom stick and tried to strike one officer, the affidavit said. Police confined him under the state's Baker Act, a law allowing mental health professionals and authorities to detain a person for up to 72 hours to determine mental stability.

At the hospital Jan. 1, he was involved in a disruption that required hospital staff to subdue and restrain him, the affidavit said. During the incident, his right arm was broken, police said...

A police review showed the family had eight child protective services reports. Of those, six were associated with Mathis after the children were placed in her care. The two other reports were associated with the man's mother, who lost custody of her children in 1996, police said.

Observing the man's behavior, police said he may have a developmental disability, the affidavit said. Police didn't elaborate, citing medical privacy laws. The man's competency is under evaluation, Riordan said.

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The fridge in the kitchen was secured with a chain and padlock, as was another fridge in the garage...

She at first denied locking the fridge and pantry but was later forced to admit it.

Mathis said the family's landlord threatened to evict them if the teen caused another problem, and she told WSVN that when the boy was previously in the care of his mother, the mother would lock him in a closet, where he would eat his own feces.

The teen's brother and sister refused to cooperate with the investigation, both telling police the 19-year-old deserved to be chained to the bed.

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A Coral Springs woman accused of chaining her teenage grandson to a bed nightly for three years remains incompetent to stand trial and too ill to get mental health treatment she needs to participate in her defense, a Broward judge was told Tuesday.

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