Three Arrested for Allegedly Zip-Tying Children to Bed Overnight

Marinece Craft. Police photo.

The mother, grandmother and step-grandfather of two children in Marrero, La., are under arrest, each charged with two counts of cruelty to a juvenile.

Grandmother Marinece Craft, 51, was arrested first, on February 26 after school officials noticed cuts and scabs on the wrists of the two unnamed kids, ages 9 and 11. She was joined by her husband, Alvin Skinner, 74, and daughter, Rosalind Craft, 35, earlier this week.

The children allegedly said that their grandmother and mother had been binding their hands with zip-ties overnight. When police went to the Craft home, Skinner reportedly told them that he did not participate in the abuse, but that Marinece and Rosalind Craft had been tying up the children to stop them from stealing. According to Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s spokesman  Col. John Fortunato, the children, their hands and feet bound, were secured to a chain attached to Craft’s bed from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m.

The children are currently in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

The investigation into this case is ongoing. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office investigations bureau at 504 364 5300.

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