Mom, boyfriend allegedly kept her son in cage and tortured him, made other child drink boiling water

DELAND, Fla. (TCD) — Law enforcement officials located and arrested a 28-year-old woman for her alleged role in the abuse and torture of her young sons, including one who was bound and beaten with a mop.

Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Shawn Stone May 9 on suspicion of aggravated child abuse after Stone’s girlfriend, Taylor Schaefer, called to report he “punched, kicked, and used a mop handle to beat” her 5-year-old son. Stone now faces 23 more charges “stemming from repeated acts of abuse and neglect.”

In a June 3 statement, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced 25 arrest charges against Schaefer, who they allege was “aware of the abuse, witnessed it, and continually failed to intervene or report it.”

On May 9, Schaefer phoned the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and said she had a “gut feeling” that Stone was abusing her son. She reportedly found video evidence of the suspected abuse, which “confirmed” her beliefs.

However, investigators recovered video evidence allegedly showing Stone beating the 5-year-old boy while Schaefer was home, as well as “several instances where he was visibly injured and limping in her presence but received no care or medical attention.”

The statement says Schaefer allegedly used a mop to clean up the area where her son was beaten with the mop handle.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, in one incidence, the boy’s hands were tied behind his back from 6:43 p.m. to 2:02 p.m. the next day. On another occasion, Stone allegedly bound the boy’s torso, feet, legs, and arms.

Camera footage allegedly captured Stone “yelling at and kicking the already visibly bruised and injured victim, with Schaefer also entering the picture and telling the victim to stand up straight.”

Medical officials discovered 46 injuries on the boy’s body, which did not include the fractured skill and other internal injuries he suffered.

Investigators learned Stone and Schaefer allegedly kept the 5-year-old inside a dog cage and deprived him of food as punishment. A second child reportedly was “forced to drink boiling water, sprayed with boiling water, and beaten with several household objects,” while a third “was not receiving the proper nutrition or care for a serious medical condition.”

Those two children reportedly witnessed the 5-year-old’s abuse.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said Stone and Schaefer’s charges include aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment, child neglect, evidence to witness tampering, and more.

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