Left to right: Sara Jackson, Arthur Jackson (Glendale Police Department).
An Arizona mom and dad are accused of locking up their two kids, ages 4 and 6, in a room for "24 hours a day" — even barring them from using the toilet by putting "zip ties" on the bathroom doorknob — resulting in developmental delays, according to cops.
"I'm a bad mom sometimes," Sara Jackson, 36, admitted to local investigators, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Glendale Police Department and obtained by Law&Crime. "I'm overwhelmed," she allegedly said. "I don't have motivation."
Jackson and her children's father, Arthur Jackson, are charged with felony child abuse in connection with the "deeply disturbing" treatment of their two sons, according to police officials, who held a press conference Monday outlining the allegations.
"Police were called after a concerned citizen observed a naked child through an apartment window as he was doing some work in the area," said Glendale Police Sgt. Bryan Hoskin. "The children were found in extremely unsanitary conditions and showed signs of significant developmental delays. One child was nonverbal and the other was minimally verbal."
Authorities went to the couple's apartment on Jan. 29 after receiving the tip and performed a welfare check that led to the discovery of the unsanitary conditions, which included feces being found all over the home and an "insect infestation," Hoskin said.
The residence was described as a "hoarder situation" with items piled up throughout the house and in the bathroom that the Jackson kids were barred from using.
"Just horrible living conditions," Hoskin alleged. "Something that you wouldn't even wish on your worst enemy. … Outdoors in a barn could be better conditions than what we saw in this apartment."
Jose Santiago, administrator with the Glendale Police Department, told reporters that the conditions were "so deplorable" that officers who responded were "quite in shock" by what they saw.
"These parents showed, really, no signs of any kind of remorse or any kind of shock when our officers arrived," Santiago said. "They basically acted as if this was just a normal activity."
According to the probable cause statement, Sara Jackson told police that the reason for feces being "on the walls and floors" was that their boys "are not potty trained" and do not like to use "the porta potty" in the bedroom.
"Sara said they put a gate on the bedroom because her 6-year-old son started pooping on the floor, and he likes to throw his feces," the statement says. "Sara told me the children have not attended any school and have not been to a doctor since they were born."
Sara Jackson alleged that her husband "doesn't say anything about the conditions of the home or the children," and he is often away at work, per the statement. The children are allegedly locked up in a room with "zip ties" and a gate while he's away.
"Arthur stated he works a lot and doesn't have time to scrub the apartment," according to the statement. "Arthur stated the kids are in the room with the gate closed when he is at work. He said he works up to nine hours a day, six days a week, and he opens the gate when he is at home."
Sara Jackson, however, was asked how long the kids are usually confined for and she admitted that "her boys are locked in the room with the gate closed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and when Arthur is home," according to the statement.
"The bathroom doorknob was zip-tied to an eyelet screw so the children could not use it," the statement adds.
Both children have been placed in the custody of the Arizona Department of Child Safety. Sara and Arthur Jackson were booked on two counts of child abuse each and were being held on $25,000 bonds.