A teenage girl miraculously escaped a house of horrors where she was held captive and allegedly abused for seven years by her mother and stepfather.
The 18-year-old girl escaped her captivity from the suburban home in Gloucester Township, New Jersey on May 8 with the help of a neighbor.
Once free, she told police about the horrific conditions she endured since 2018 when her mother Brenda Spencer, 38, pulled her from school.
After being removed from the sixth grade, she was allegedly forced to live in a padlocked bathroom where she was kept chained up, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.
The victim also told law enforcement that her stepfather, 41-year-old Branndon Mosley, sexually abused her for years and beat her with a belt.
He allegedly withheld food from the girl and sexually abused her while her hands were chained.
She also had allegedly been forced to live in a dog crate for a year that was meant for the couple’s Great Danes, Chief of Gloucester Township Police David Harkins said at a press conference.
Her parents also kept her in a bare room with nothing but a bucket, which she was forced to use instead of a bathroom.
An 18-year-old escaped her New Jersey home and informed law enforcement she was held captive for seven years and allegedly tortured by her mother and stepfather
Brenda Spencer, 38, was arrested on multiple counts of assault and kidnapping for keeping her daughter captive for seven years
Branndon Mosley, 41, allegedly sexually and physically abused his daughter while she was held captive in their home
The victim alleged that she was forced to live in disgusting conditions, and an alarm system alerted Spencer and Mosley if she tried to escape.
Harkins said that the victim didn’t initially share the information with police, but later contacted them a week after her escape.
He added that the case was one of the most ‘despicable’ their department had ever encountered.
Authorities didn’t immediately share how she escaped the home but said they met with the victim at a grocery store to take her statement.
She declined domestic abuse services, but called police two days later to recount the full scope of the horrific abuse.
Detectives discovered stomach-churning conditions when they searched the home, including a slew of dogs, chinchillas, and other animals that the girl was forced to live with.
They also found a second girl living in the home, who was just 13 years old. Both girls were removed from school and were allegedly being homeschooled during the abuse.
Neighbors told local NBC affiliate, WCAU-TV, that the family rarely left the home and they never saw the two girls living there.
Other community members were disgusted by the allegations, with one noting, ‘You have to be mentally disturbed to do something like that.’
Spencer and Mosley were arrested and face a slew of charges relating to kidnapping, neglect, and assault, including one count of third-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Spencer and Mosley allegedly held two teenage girls in ‘squalid’ conditions, with neighbors telling local news that they never saw the children
Camden County Prosecutor Grace MacAulay told reporters at a press conference that the teenager endured ‘absolutely horrific’ conditions
Mosley also faces sexual assault charges and endangering the welfare of a child by using sexual contact.
Spencer was reportedly unemployed, and Mosley worked as a train conductor. They were both jailed and await detention hearings.
‘What this young woman survived was absolutely horrific,’ Camden County Prosecutor Grace MacAulay told reporters during a press conference.
MacAulay added that the girl endured ‘heinous, years-long torture,’ that flew under the radar because she was homeschooled.
The county prosecutor pointed out the ‘flaws’ in the educational system that allowed the abuse to occur for seven years.
She said that although homeschooling may be the right choice for some families, in this case, it aided in hiding the tragic abuse.
Spencer and Mosley were charged on Saturday and await their first court hearing, which is scheduled for Friday.
The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit is asking any community members with additional information on the abuse to come forward.
