JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sherriff's Office has arrested a second person in a child neglect case.
Kenneth Trout has been arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse and two counts of child neglect.
JSO arrested Alexandra Ebey on Dec. 14 and charged her with child neglect. A police incident report says Ebey and Trout locked a handcuffed child in a closet for 25 days.
Police say on Dec. 14 the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) was conducting a welfare check at a house on Macbeth Road. When DCF could not find the child it then called JSO fearing the child may be dead.
The report says Ebey came out of the house with the victim. DCF observed the child and determined she was malnourished, had open wounds all over her body, and needed immediate medical attention.
In Trout's arrest warrant report, the victims siblings said the child would be locked in her room for long periods of time. It added the child would be punished for things such as eating out of a peanut butter jar.
"Sickening felt helpless for them like I couldn't do anything for them. Even no matter how many calls were made there were still no proof until they found her malnourished and almost too late. I could never imagine, never. I tried imagining and I could never imagine," a neighbor, who wished to be anonymous, said.
The neighbor said she was concerned about a month ago when she did not see the child for weeks. Her concern prompted her to call DCF.
"We wanted to see the girl because nobody has seen her and that was the tipping point. When they brought her out in the blanket they said she was using the bathroom or whatever. I saw her she was in a blanket and she could barely even walk," the neighbor said.