Horror as Woman Finds Adopted Adult Special Needs Sister Handcuffed to Bed Frame with Chain Around Neck: Police

News By TooFab Staff |
WPXI

The woman -- whose mother was arrested -- took photos and videos of the horrific conditions after hearing "screaming" from an upstairs bedroom; the victim claimed she was chained for days without water, medication or anywhere to go the bathroom.

A Pennsylvania woman who worked as a school nurse at a special needs school has been arrested, after allegedly keeping her adopted daughter -- who also has special needs -- handcuffed to a bed frame in her home.

Marylou Dewitt has been charged with neglect of a care-dependent person, endangering the welfare of a care-dependent person, neglect of a care-dependent person, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint and tampering with evidence, according to an arrest affidavit via Law&Crime.

Her arrest came after Pennsylvania State Police responded to a 9-1-1 call just before 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Dewitt's daughter is the one who called cops, after she returned home from the store around midnight and "heard screaming coming from the upstairs of the residence," per the docs.

The woman claimed her mother "had chained her mentally handicapped adopted sister to a bed for an unknown period of time in which she only had access to sandwiches and no food." The woman allegedly documented what she saw in the room with photos and videos, before she found keys to the chains in a lunch box and freed her sister.

Per police, the photos and footage showed the sibling "handcuffed to a wooden bed frame and a chain that wrapped around her neck. The chain was wrapped in a pink t-shirt. A bike chain could be [seen] that restrained [the sister] at the hip area."

The victim's face in the sister's documentation of the scene was described as "swollen," while the woman said Marylou "began doing this last week and only left her sandwiches to eat." She also said Dewitt "had been making her 'pee and poop' herself," while photos showed bruises on her leg.

According to the affidavit, when their mother returned home, she "attempted to clean up the room by placing the mattress back on the bed. She also grabbed the lunch box containing the restraints." While the sister said she "confronted" her mother "and prevented her from tampering with the scene" further, Marylou "left the residence with the lunch box."

Troopers on the scene interviewed the victim, who claimed she had been restrained to the bed since May 24 with "no access to water." She also claimed Dewitt had "not let her shower since February or brush her teeth," and withheld medication "she was at risk of having seizures" without. The trooper noted "a strong odor of urine and body odor was emanating" from her, as well as the room.

Dewitt allegedly "refused to return to the residence" after becoming aware of police, said troopers, and "began sending suicidal messages to family members." While initial negotiations with Dewitt over the phone weren't successful, cell phone pings were used to locate her near Pittsburgh. Per the affidavit, police there "entered into the pursuit" after she refused to pull over, before State Police -- over the phone -- convinced her to surrender.

"The mother was maybe having some sort of mental episode. … It took a little time for her to stop," a spokesperson for the State Police told the Observer-Reporter.

According to WPXI, the suspect worked as a nurse for Spectrum Charter School in Monroeville, but has been fired. Per their Facebook page, the school is a tuition-free, public charter special needs school serving students ages 13-21.

She's being held without bond ahead of a preliminary heading on June 12.