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KEARNS — A Kearns couple accused of locking children in their house in "makeshift cells" for days and possibly weeks at a time to teach them about sacrifice are now facing criminal charges.
Melissa Ann Gray, 41, and Travis Stacey Peterson, 49, were arrested Tuesday and on Friday charged in 3rd District Court with two counts each of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Gray was also charged with an additional count of child abuse, a class A misdemeanor.
"For over one year, the defendants in this matter utilized multiple 'jail cells' to control the victim, allowing him to eat twice a day and use the toilet three times a day," according to charging documents filed Friday.
The investigation began on Aug. 19 when Unified police were called to check on a possible child abuse situation at a home near 4600 West and 4900 South involving a 13-year-old boy.
An undisclosed witness claimed the boy was being "locked in a makeshift cell," according to a police booking affidavit.
"When officers arrived on scene, they observed (the boy) in the hallway of the home, in an alcove looking like a closet under the stairs with gates affixed to the walls and locked with a padlock from the outside so (the boy) was unable to get out," the affidavit states. "(The boy) had been locked in the makeshift cell for approximately 24 hours around the clock."
Gray, the boy's stepmother, had also made the boy drop his pants so she could spank him for "screaming in the home," the affidavit alleges. "Prior to being spanked, (the boy) reported being hungry, lonely and having to sleep curled up in the makeshift cells."
Officers learned that the boy had also been "locked into a makeshift cell made out his loft bed … for months and only let out when he would have to go to the bathroom," the arrest report says. Charging documents further state that Gray said she tried to make his bunk bed "similar to a jail cell" so he could understand "what jail was like."
She also said her son had to be escorted from the cell to the bathroom and back and was "not allowed to roam about the house," the charges state.
The boy recounted a time to officers that he was "desperate to get out of the cell to use the restroom" and had to break out of the holding cell "because no one was responding to his pleas to get out."
Police also reported that the boy's 22-year-old brother "had been locked up when he was younger by his father."
"Both Melissa and Travis did not believe that anything was wrong with putting (the younger boy) in a cell and locking it from the outside. Melissa stated (that) she wanted (the boy) to see what it was like in a city and the real world," the affidavit states.
Gray told allegedly told investigators that her son was being homeschooled and had established a "rewards system" in which he could earn "Peterson bucks" to "purchase necessities such as meals and food. Gray told officers that she was attempting to teach (her son) about sacrifice and occasionally 'needing to go without to pay bills,'" charging document state.
Peterson allegedly further told police that the boy "would be returning into the cell if he returned to the Peterson residence."
"While speaking to the father, Travis, he informed me he worked in health care and stated if he was arrested for child abuse he would lose his job. I asked Travis to clarify, and he stated, 'The nation and world is cracking down on this sort of thing,'" according to the affidavit.
Police say Gray also allegedly set up multiple security cameras in the hallway "so she and Peterson could monitor (her son) at all times," according to the charges.
"At no point in time did either defendant express any remorse for their actions or concern for the safety and health of the victim," prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
Child abuse resources:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online: udvc.org. The statewide child abuse and neglect hotline is 1-855-323-DCFS (3237).
- The Utah Division of Child and Family Services offers counseling, teaches parenting skills and conflict resolution and can connect families with community resources. Its goal is to keep children with their family when it is "possible and safe." Visit dcfs.utah.gov/contact-us/ or call 801-538-4100.
- The Christmas Box House acts as a temporary shelter for children and can provide them with new clothing and shoes, among other services. Call the Salt Lake office at 801-747-2201 or the Ogden office at 801-866-0350.
