July 13--MIDDLETOWN -- A father and stepmother are accused of locking their 12-year-old daughter in a Middletown basement for nearly a month, tying her up and feeding her only cereal.
The couple have been charged with kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and child endangering, a third-degree felony, according to police.
Middletown police said an anonymous complaint led Butler County Children Services this month to investigate Shawn Blackston, 40, and Joanna Blackston, 36, who live at 1606 Philadelphia Ave. The complaint was that the couple were allegedly abusing one of their six children.
After Children Services staff members saw the "deplorable living conditions," Middletown police were notified on July 3, said Lt. Scott Reeve.
Reeve said the children were removed from the home that day and placed in foster care and charges were filed against Shawn and Joanna Blackston on July 6 when they were found and arrested in a Sharonville motel.
Reeve said the girl, a sixth-grader in the Middletown City Schools District, had been allegedly locked in the basement since June 18, about a month after her last day of school.
There were several locks on the outside of the door that led to the basement, Reeve said.
He said there was only a mattress in the unfinished basement, and the glass block windows were covered by sheets or wood, eliminating light from coming inside. One light bulb hung from the ceiling.
There was no bathroom in the basement, so the girl was let out of the basement when she needed to use the restroom, Reeve said.
Her only communication with her siblings was through floor boards and under the basement door, Reeve said.
Meanwhile, he said, the other children had air conditioners in their second-floor windows and video game systems in their bedrooms. When interviewed, the father and stepmother said locking the 12-year-old in the basement was a form of punishment and a way of protecting the other children.
"That doesn't make sense," Reeve said.
The girl was malnourished and dirty when found by officers, he said. She had scars on her back, arms and legs from what she said was previous abuse. She said her stepmother put duct tape over her eyes and mouth and bound her wrists behind her back. She hadn't brushed her teeth in six months since her parents took the toothbrush away as punishment, she told investigators.
Attorney Randy Turner, guardian ad litem for a 15-year-old sister, said there were a number of red flags that something was wrong at the Blackston home. He said his ward was punished once by being made to watch the other children open Christmas presents when she had not been given any, and she was also punished by being placed in the basement.
The 15-year-old had faced a domestic violence charge in a separate incident and was found delinquent, the juvenile-court equivalent to being found guilty. When the juvenile court ruled the girl could not go home, Turner said she was unusually elated.
"She was thrilled to death," Turner said.
In February, Turner asked the court to order Butler County Children Services to investigate the home. He said the agency didn't find anything wrong with the home.
"They either didn't look at the basement or thought it was OK," Turner said.
He said the three stepchildren were treated differently.
"This isn't the first time I had to file a complaint like this," Turner said about children services.
Jeff Centers, executive director of BCCS, said the agency is cooperating with Middletown police, but couldn't comment further about the agency's investigation.
Centers said there were staff members placed on administrative leave this week, but would not say if it was related to this case. He said the case is pending an investigation into whether "proper policies and procedures were followed." He refused to say who the staff members were and how many were on leave.
The six children who lived in the Philadelphia home -- ages 16, 14, 12, 9, 3 and 2 -- are in foster care.
Joanna Blackston has been released on a $25,000 cash or property bond. Her attorney, Ched Hagen Peck of Hamilton, said she denies all of the allegations. Shawn Blackston, whose bail is also $25,000, remains in the city jail Thursday night. The attorney for Shawn Blackston, Daniel R. Allnutt of Franklin, could not be reached for comment.
Reeve said investigators were in touch with the Butler County Prosecutor's office about the case. Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said he was "fully aware" of the case but "it's not something I can comment on at this time."
Both Blackston's are scheduled for preliminary hearings at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Middletown Municipal Court.
They didn't return voice messages left Thursday on their cell phone.
On Thursday afternoon, no one answered the door at 1606 Philadelphia. The home is located off Central Avenue in a residential and business downtown neighborhood.
The glass window on the front door was painted, and several cans of cat food littered the front and side yards. There was a trailer in the side yard and no one answered that door either.
There is an empty lot to the south of the home and the two homes to the north are vacant.
One downtown businessman said he usually saw the children standing in the front yard every morning waiting for the school bus.
Marion Sherman, 84, lives around the corner at 17 Garfield St. When told about the allegations against his neighbors, he said he had heard of similar abuse claims on TV, but never "this close to home."
He called the allegations "just awful," and if true, the couple should be "locked up for a really long time."
Joanna Blackston has lived in Middletown since August 2008, and before that lived in Circleville and Hamilton, and a few residences in New York.
Shawn Blackston has lived in Middletown since November 2008, and before that he lived in Pickaway and Fairfield counties.
They have only committed traffic-related offenses, according to a background check. However, Joanna Blackston, whose maiden name is Green, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 1998 in Cincinnati. She also had three civil judgments in Butler County against her for a collective amount of $15,211.
Shawn Blackston also had three civil judgments filed against him -- one in Pickaway County Municipal Court and two in Fairfield County Municipal Court -- for a collective $3,150.
Copyright 2012 - Middletown Journal, Ohio
