Plea from Margate teen to online instructor reveals years of abuse inside home

MARGATE, Fla. – Margate police have arrested two people who find themselves accused of torturing a teenage woman for years who they had been the criminal guardians of.

According to one of the suspect’s arrest record, officials spoke back to the sufferer’s home Wednesday after she wrote to her online instructor, pronouncing that she wanted assist and asking to have the police despatched to her home.

Margate police mentioned officials arrived on the area and found out that Benjamin Deztuan Lockett, 43, had punched the sufferer within the head, inflicting her head to slam into the nook of a table.

The sufferer suffered a reduce to the left aspect of her head, which used to be bleeding and had visual swelling, the record said.

According to the record, the sufferer used to be transported to Broward Health Coral Springs the place officials spotted that she had different accidents on her frame, together with “scars consistent with ligature marks, bruising, scar tissue, bite marks from insects and symptoms of malnutrition.”

Police mentioned the lady defined that Lockett and Latricia Elizabeth Crawley, 46, have had custody of her since 2014 and feature tortured her in quite a lot of tactics over the years, additionally caging her in two other closets, forcing her to urinate and defecate in a bucket.

Alleged abuse indexed within the arrest record integrated:

• 2019: 11 years of age, (Lockett) kicked her within the chin, leading to a noticeable everlasting scar, noticed by way of your affiant.

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• 2021: 13 years of age, (Crawley) oiled the knees of the sufferer and compelled the sufferer to kneel on rice for a number of hours at a time, for a number of days in a row, leading to everlasting disfigurement to the sufferer’s knees within the shape of scar tissue, noticed by way of this affiant.

• 2021: 13 years of age, (Crawley) tied the sufferer to a set object and struck her feet with a hammer. According to the sufferer, this led to serious ache and bleeding.

• 2022: 14 years of age, (Crawley and Lockett) tied and sure the sufferer to other items on a couple of events with a nylon rope, leading to everlasting disfigurement to the sufferer’s pores and skin on her shoulders, wrists and spaces of her abdomen within the shape of scarring and hyperpigmentation, noticed by way of your affiant.

• 2022: 14 years of age, (Crawley) threw a pot of boiling water on the sufferer inflicting everlasting disfigurement within the shape of scarring to the sufferer’s abdomen, noticed by way of your affiant.

According to the record, officials went to the sufferer’s home and located two closets that had locking mechanisms.

Droplets of blood had been additionally observed at the ground inside one of the closets the place the sufferer mentioned she ran to after being punched by way of Lockett, alternatively the blood have been wiped clean up by the point officials returned later within the day, police mentioned.

Authorities mentioned the sufferer instructed officials that she would once in a while be tied up with zip ties inside the closets and used to be pressured to sleep there.

She mentioned Crawley “would often pour cold water on (her) while she slept, just to see her wake up,” the record said.

According to the record, the sufferer mentioned that one shape of punishment by way of Crawley integrated having her eyes taped close whilst her head used to be dunked into water.

An officer wrote within the record that the sufferer was so disenchanted whilst recalling that punishment, she had to be given time to get better ahead of proceeding to talk with the officer.

According to the record, the sufferer confirmed a couple of indicators of malnutrition and hunger, together with reddening of the nail mattress and the description of her bones being visual, particularly round her backbone.

Police mentioned Crawley by no means made any makes an attempt to find or take a look at at the sufferer whilst she used to be with officials and expressed her need to unencumber custody of the sufferer.

The woman is now within the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Jail information display Crawley and Lockett had been arrested on fees of irritated kid abuse and kid overlook with nice physically hurt.

As of Thursday morning, Lockett remained held on the Broward County Main Jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond.