A 22-year-old autistic woman was locked in a cage and would regularly be abused by a family for almost a year. She was forced to eat her mother’s ashes.
Warning: This post goes into detail of abuse and torture, including sexual abuse.
Between August 13th 2015 and June 30th 2016, a 22-year-old autistic woman was kept prisoner by 5 members of a family in Amite, Louisiana. The woman, referred to as ‘’Dee’’ (as her identity has been kept private) was meant to move in with the family after her mother passed away. It has been reported that the family were distant relatives to Dee. Dee was eventually housed in a cage built out of chicken wire and was not allowed to leave unless it was to do chores. The family members: Raylaine Knope (43), her husband Terry J. Knope II, her daughter and son Bridget and Jody and Terry's daughter Taylor forced Dee into a campaign of abuse.
Raylaine would shoot Dee with a BB gun, hold her underwater in a hot tub continuously, burn her hand with a flame, steal her social security payments ($8,800 in total) as well as confiscating her phone and laptop so she couldn’t contact anyone. They would force her to do work so that she could earn food. Bridget would hit Dee over the head with a wooden board and would hold her arm down to be burnt with a lighter as ‘punishment’. She was also forced to eat her mother’s ashes mixed with milk. This caused Dee to throw up which the family found entertaining.
Dee would be forced to take part in sexual acts including an act with a jalapeno. The family had planned on forcing Dee to be a sex worker. Terry admitted that he would reportedly make Dee clean up a spill on the floor with her tongue as well as smashing her hand with a hammer. He and Jody also threw a bucket of human urine and feces over her. She would be called slurs and told that she deserved to die. She would be warned if she ever tried to escape, she would be shot and killed. She would be choked, kicked and had food cans thrown at her repeatedly.
She was forced to consume dog feces on bread as well as methamphetamine and painkillers. The family would threaten to inform the police that she was taking drugs if she ever escaped. Any wounds that the family made on Dee would be glued back together as they wouldn’t take her to a hospital. A man who lived in a nearby trailer with his girlfriend and baby suspected something was not right and reported the suspects to the police. When she was eventually found, she was covered in insect bites and was malnourished. Dee was found by investigators and sent to hospital.
In 2019, Raylaine would be sentenced to 28 years in prison. Bridget was sent to 4 years in prison. Jody was sentenced to 10 years. Terry was sentenced to 28 years. Taylor was given probation.
Further Reading: https://www.wafb.com/2019/10/20/family-members-sentenced-after-autistic-woman-locked-backyard-cage-allegedly-forced-eat-cremation-ashes/