Mother of Jupiter, Teen Locked in Box-Shaped Room, Pleads Guilty

A Florida mother accused of locking her adopted son in a box in her garage has pleaded guilty.

On Monday morning, Tracy Ferriter pleaded guilty to felony charges involving false imprisonment, aggravated child abuse and child neglect. She will be subject to one year of house arrest and ten years of probation.

According to NBC affiliate WPTV, shortly after their teenage son ran away from home in February 2022, Ferriter and her husband were taken into custody by Jupiter police.

After pleading guilty, Ferriter claimed her son suffered from reactive attachment disorder (RAD), a condition that can cause frequent violent outbursts.

“We were living a life that didn’t match what the media was showing us,” she said. “There were a lot of things that no one knew. We were a very loving family. I love my children. We just tried to do the best we could with what we had. »

Defense attorney Marc Shiner said his client pleaded guilty to “bring some peace to his family.”

Shiner said he hopes the case raises awareness of RAD and that the public should know his client is not “a monster.”

“He is an extremely educated, loving human being (and who) adopted children out of the goodness of his heart,” Shiner said.

Prosecutors said the boy was held in a windowless 8×8 room in their garage. There was a desk, a mattress and a bucket that the young man used to relieve himself. The teen would be allowed out of the locked room only to go to school and occasionally to eat dinner with his family.

Her husband, Tim Ferriter, was convicted in October of child abuse, child neglect and false imprisonment. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Tracy Ferriter will not serve any prison time under the terms of her plea agreement. However, she must complete 300 hours of community service, undergo a mental health evaluation, take parenting and anger management classes and refrain from communicating with her spouse or the victim in the present case.

According to WPTV, during the hearing, the judge said Ferriter could also transfer her probation to Chicago, where she is trying to relocate.