Woman who is disabled locked up for 12 hours, escapes through window, NC cops say

A woman was spotted climbing from a bedroom window in distress last year, leading North Carolina authorities to arrest and charge her two caregivers, according to media reports.

Winston-Salem police were alerted to a domestic disturbance in a suburban neighborhood on Jan. 29, 2021 according to the Hickory Daily Record, a local newspaper. Upon arrival, they saw a woman who is disabled hanging from a bedroom window and yelling for help.

The woman lived in the home and was cared for aided by a woman whose brother appeared to have been standing in for her at the time of the incident, according to News19.

After an investigation, police determined that the siblings left the 30-year-old victim “in a locked room for over 12 hours without supervision or the necessities of life,” according to Fox8.

The Winston-Salem Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News, and an attorney representing the siblings could not be reached by McClatchy News.

The caregiver is accused of gross carelessness, resulting in “mental injury” to the woman, according to a warrant obtained by the Winston-Salem Journal. She was charged with two counts of domestic abuse/neglect/exploitation of a disabled adult, while her brother has been charged with a single count of the same charge, according to Fox8. They first appeared in court on Oct. 10.

The caregiver told the Winston-Salem Journal that the charges brought against her were untrue and did not comment further. Her brother declined to comment.

Individuals with disabilities are often subject to disproportionate levels of abuse and neglect, according to the Department of Justice. Between 2017 and 2019, the rate of violent victimization against people with disabilities in the U.S. was nearly four times the rate for persons without disabilities.

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