HITCHCOCK, Texas — A couple has been arrested after they were accused of neglecting and tying up a 45-year-old man with disabilities to his room for about two weeks.
The man happens to be the biological son of the woman, who has been identified as Billie Jean Barnes, 66. She and Timothy Ellis, 51, who was identified as the 45-year-old man's stepfather, have been charged with injury to a disabled individual.
The Hitchcock Police Department said they were called to the Highland Bayou RV Park on Nov. 30 for a medical call involving an unresponsive person. Police said when they got there, medics were already rendering life-saving aid to a "frail, mentally and physically incapacitated" man who weighed about 70 pounds.
Police said the man suffered from severe muscular atrophy and was covered in bedsores, feces and urine. He was also missing part of his bottom lip and some of his teeth, according to police.
The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition where police said they found out he was mutilated and rotting from significant neglect.
During an investigation, police said they learned the man had an intellectual disability and had been tied to his room for about two weeks. They said the man had several scars and scabs where it appeared he had been forcibly restrained by Barnes and Ellis to prevent him from acting out.
Police said they also learned Ellis tried to heal all of the man's medical and cognitive disorders holistically but he had no formal training. Police said Barnes allowed this treatment to happen to her son.
Ellis and Barnes are in the Galveston County Jail. They both were given a $250,000 bond.
The man is still in the hospital recovering.