Teen Calls Police for Help After Being Forced to Live in a Shed Without Electricity After Failing to Get a Job

A couple in Tennessee is facing charges of neglect after allegedly forcing a teenager with autism to live without basic things like electricity and running water in a shed outside their home.

Members of the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office responded to the residence sometime before Wednesday, September 9, after the teen called them for help, saying he had been living in the shed since he turned 18 in February, according to WKRN.

The teen’s mother, Amanda Sewell, and her boyfriend, Brandon Cox, said they forced the teen to live in the shed after he failed to get a job. The outlet reports they are also accused of cutting off his electricity as an incentive for him to find work. Meanwhile, the teen told officers that he had often gone days without power, which meant no fans or air conditioning as temperatures outdoors reached 93 degrees.

Upon further investigation, police learned that he was told to drink water from the hose, fed meals through a window, and was not allowed inside the home when Cox was present. Sewell even went as far as to remove the doorknobs off the home’s back doors to prevent the 18-year-old from getting inside.

When they entered the shed, police saw he’d been forced to use a bag as a toilet; there was trash everywhere and a mattress with very little bedding. The teen was later taken to the hospital due to lack of hydration, the outlet reports — citing court documents.

The Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet that the teen is now in a safe place. Meanwhile, Sewell and Cox have been charged with neglect of a vulnerable adult. They have since bonded out of jail and are both due to appear in court next on November 25. So far, it appears no pleas have been made in their respective cases.