New Jersey teen escapes after allegedly being held captive for years, kept in dog crate, and abused in home

A New Jersey couple has been charged after being accused of holding a girl captive in their home and abusing her for years before she finally escaped.

Teen escapes abuse

On Saturday, May 10, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit and Gloucester Township Police Department responded to reports that a child had been kept in the home and abused for several years, officials said in a news release shared on Facebook.

The alleged victim, now 18, told detectives that her mother and stepfather, identified as 38-year-old Brenda Spencer and 41-year-old Branndon Mosley, had been abusing her since approximately 2018.

Around that time, the girl was removed from school when she was in the sixth grade “at Spencer’s discretion and confined to her home,” officials said.

The victim said shortly after she was pulled out of school, she was “forced to live in a dog crate for approximately one year and was let out periodically,” the release said.

Later, she was forced to live in a padlocked bathroom and was chained up. She told police she would be let out of the bathroom when family visited the home. At other times she lived in a bare room with a bucket to use as a toilet.

The victim told police the room had an alarm system that would “alert Spencer and Mosley if she tried to leave.”

Authorities say the teen was forced to live in a dog crate for a year, given a bucket to use as a bathroom and severely abused over a seven-year span.

The victim also reported being beaten with a belt and sexually abused by Mosley, officials stated.

Suspects charges

The suspects were both charged with the following offenses: first-degree kidnapping (one count); second-degree conspiracy to commit kidnapping (one count); second-degree aggravated assault (one count); second-degree endangering the welfare of a child – abuse/neglect (five counts); third-degree criminal restraint (one count); third-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (one count); third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose (one count); and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (one count).

The release confirmed Mosley was also charged with the following: first-degree aggravated sexual assault (two counts); second-degree sexual assault (two counts); and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child – sexual contact (one count).

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.