Police in Arizona say two young brothers were shut away in a filthy bedroom for so long that they stopped speaking. The boys, just 4 and 6 years old, were allegedly kept out of school, blocked from using the bathroom, and left to live in their own waste while the adults in their lives moved freely through the rest of the apartment. The case has stunned even seasoned officers, who describe conditions that were closer to a neglected kennel than a home.
Investigators now accuse the boys’ parents of turning basic care into a form of torture, using locks, zip ties, and isolation instead of supervision and affection. The allegations, laid out in police reports and court documents, paint a picture of two kids whose world shrank to a single room and whose voices eventually faded with it.
The Glendale apartment and the boys inside
According to Glendale Police, the story came into focus inside a small south Glendale apartment where the family lived with their two sons. Officers say the Kids, ages 6 and 4, were confined almost entirely to a single bedroom that reeked of urine and feces. The Conditions described by officers included soiled bedding, stained walls, and a floor littered with trash, a level of squalor that investigators said no child should ever be forced to endure in Glendale.
Police say the boys’ parents, identified as Arizona residents Sara Jackson and Arthur Jackson, allegedly kept the children locked away for long stretches while they occupied the rest of the Glendale unit. One report notes that the Glendale Police officer who first walked into the bedroom compared the treatment of the boys to something less humane than what many people offer their pets.
Locks, zip ties, and a bathroom they could not use
Investigators say the control inside that apartment went far beyond a closed door. According to a detailed police account, the Parents allegedly put zip ties on the bathroom doorknob to keep the boys from using the toilet, forcing them to relieve themselves in the bedroom instead. Officers say the children were also kept out of school, cut off from teachers and other adults who might have noticed something was wrong.
One account describes how the boys’ mother reportedly blurted out “I’m a bad mom” when confronted by officers about the state of the home and the children. Another report notes that the couple allegedly used a combination of locks and makeshift restraints to keep the boys from leaving the room, a pattern that, according to a separate summary of the case, left the kids living in a Feces filled space with virtually No Toilet access.
How isolation allegedly stole the boys’ voices
What sets this case apart, even in a country that hears far too many child abuse stories, is what police say happened to the boys’ ability to speak. Arizona authorities allege that the children were locked away for such long periods that they eventually became nonverbal, barely communicating at all by the time officers reached them. A detailed account of the case notes that Arizona parents Sara Jackson and Arthur Jackson allegedly kept their sons in that room so consistently that the boys stopped using words altogether.
One summary of the allegations explains that Sara Jackson and are accused of cutting the boys off from normal play, school, and even regular bathroom use, a combination that experts say can stunt language and emotional development. Another report, citing investigators, notes that the children were kept in a Locked room for so long that their silence became one more symptom of the neglect.
The parents, the charges, and what police say they found
Glendale Police say the adults at the center of the case are the boys’ own parents, identified in multiple reports as Sara Jackson and Arthur Jackson. A booking photo released by the Glendale Police Department shows, left to right, Sara Jackson and Arthur Jackson, the Arizona couple now facing serious child abuse counts. One detailed write-up notes that the pair are described as Parents who allegedly admitted some responsibility even as they were being questioned.
According to a detailed breakdown of the case, Both Arthur and were arrested and charged with two counts of child abuse after officers documented the state of the apartment and the boys’ condition. Another report describes how the couple, referred to as Glendale parents, were taken into custody after officers documented the squalor and notified child welfare workers.
“Bad Mom,” a feces covered room, and the wider fallout
Several accounts of the investigation highlight a phrase that has come to define the case: “Bad Mom.” One detailed narrative of the arrest says the mother used those words about herself as officers confronted her with the reality of the boys’ living conditions, a moment that later appeared in a summary titled with the phrase Bad Mom. That same account describes how the children were allegedly kept in a Feces covered room that was so saturated with waste that even the walls and furniture were stained.
One detailed report on the case describes how Arizona Parents Arrested, 4 and 6, were allegedly keeping them Locked in that Covered Room virtually around the clock. Another account, written by Chris Harris, notes that the boys’ ordeal unfolded in Arizona and that the details were laid out in a statement reviewed midweek, identified simply as Wed.
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