Tied Up and Starved: Arkansas Couple Accused of Torturing Their Own Child

An Arkansas couple is under arrest after. police found their seven-year-old son. nearly dead from starvation. And despite. being rescued, the child is reportedly. barely hanging on. We're digging into. the charges the couple now face and what. will happen to their two other children. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Elizabeth Milner filling in. for Jesse Weber. A 7-year-old boy is in critical. condition as of the time of this. recording on Friday morning, July 18th, at Children's Hospital in Little Rock,

Arkansas because of what medical. professionals are calling severe. prolonged malnutrition. When authorities. searched the little boy's house in. Rusville, they found that the home was. unfit for children. Despite that, it. appears multiple children were living. there. 39-year-old Chris Freeman and his. 27-year-old wife, Caitlyn, are now. facing felony child abuse charges after. police found a closet in their house had. been converted into a makeshift room. where the 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. were tied up with a rope. According to. testimony heard in court by the.

Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, a. three-year-old also lived there. The. three-year-old and 5-year-old are now. reportedly in foster care. A judge set. the bond for the Freeman's at $100,000. cash. If they do make bail, they do have. to wear electronic monitoring bracelets, can't contact any of their family. members or children, and can't be around. kids at all. The couple were charged on. July 15th with a count each of. first-degree battery and endangering the. welfare of a minor. According to. Arkansas criminal statute, battery in. the first degree is a class B felony. Charging documents read, quote, "The.

said defendant in Pope County did. unlawfully and feloniously on or about. July 15, 2025, commit battery in the. first degree that he or she knowingly. caused serious injury to another person. under circumstances manifesting extreme. indifference to the value of a human. life. Now, the battery charge carries a. sentence of about 5 to 20 years in. prison. the endangering the welfare of a. minor charge is a class D felony, meaning the suspects could face up to. six years if convicted. From the.

charging document, quote, "The said. defendant in Pope County did unlawfully. and feloniously on or about July 15th, 2025, commit the offense of endangering. the welfare of a minor in the first. degree. If being a parent, guardian, person legally charged with care or. custody of a minor, he or she purposely. engages in conduct creating a. substantial risk of death or serious. physical injury to a minor. Now, I want. to go through some of the testimony from. the Freeman's bond hearing where. Lieutenant Quinn Jones of the Rustville. Police Department Criminal Investigation.

Division testified about the case. The. Freemans took their seven-year-old son. to a local hospital on Tuesday, July. 15th, where medical staff reportedly. said he was so emaciated that his ribs. were protruding and that he was so pale. that you could see his bones through his. skin. He weighed only 28 lb and was 40. in tall, much shorter than average. And. according to the CDC, a healthy. 7-year-old boy is between 40 and 71 lbs. So that's obviously a huge discrepancy. Now, the child was rushed to the.

children's hospital where his status as. of this recording is critical. Lieutenant Jones testified that Caitlyn. Freeman told medical staff at the. hospital that the boy had been awake and. was walking fine. A dubious claim given. his current condition. She said he had. been having gastrointestinal issues for. quote a while and had not been to a. pediatrician because his previous doctor. retired. Lieutenant Jones said in court, quote, "Doctors at Children's described. the juvenile as malnourished with little. muscle mass and described the situation. as a near fatality." The doctor stated.

the juvenile would have been. malnourished for several years in order. to be in the condition that he was in. Arkansas State Police were also part of. the investigation and discovered that. the boy was last seen by a doctor in. 2021. Again, this is 2025 now. The boy. was already malnourished then and. Lieutenant Jones testified a DHS. investigation was started, but it's. unclear what happened from there. According to Westville police, it. appears that the children were left tied. up inside the small closet in the home. often. There was urine and feces on the.

floor and horrifyingly investigators. found scratch marks on the wall where it. appears that somebody was trying to get. out. Medical staff reported that the. seven-year-old had scratches on his. knuckles consistent with clawing at a. wall. The three-year-old and 5-year-old, according to police, also had signs of. malnourishment, but not as severe as a. seven-year-old. There was reportedly. plenty of food in the home, as well as. several thousand dollar in cash. Lieutenant Jones testified that Caitlyn. told investigators she knew that Chris. would sometimes tie the seven-year-old's. feet and wrists with rope and leave him.

in the closet, blocking the door with a. toddler bed so that he couldn't quote. have a break. The night before the child. was taken to the hospital, Caitlyn. Freeman reportedly got home from work. around 8:00 p.m. and knew that the boy. was still inside the closet. He stayed. there until Chris opened the door in the. morning and found him unresponsive, according to Lieutenant Jones's. testimony. According to the Arkansas. news outlet, KK, the Freeman admitted to. detectives that they didn't take the boy. to a doctor because of fear of. embarrassment and repercussions. Now, the investigation is ongoing and more.

charges could be filed. Russville Police. Chief David Ewing told KK there is no. denying that this shook us to our core. I mean he was basically just a skeleton. with skin on it. To talk about the. disturbing details of this case, I want. to bring in family law attorney Jennifer. Roman. Jennifer, thank you so much for. speaking with me. Now, Jennifer, I will. say one thing. These parents, surprisingly to me, are lucky that their. seven-year-old son is even still alive. Because reading that a seven-year-old. was less than 30 pounds and allegedly. locked up in a closet to me is just.

unfathomable. And as a prosecutor, have. you seen a case like this before? >> No. I mean, things come close, right? But this clearly went on for a number of. years and the allegations are just so. incredibly horrific and frankly hard to. get your mind around. how how could two. parents do this to their child? And what. really sort of troubled me was that they.

apparently said to the investigators. that they didn't bring him to the. hospital earlier because they were. afraid of repercussions and embarrassed. >> Like I would rather take embarrassment. over just not reporting at all. Like. that just Yeah. And by the time they did. take him in, the doctors are reporting. the child was was nearly dead. >> Yeah. >> I mean, he he was just wasting away from. malnutrition. And that is just.

horrifying. Horrifying. >> And it's heartbreaking, too, because, you know, and sadly, you know, here at. Long Crime, we've seen cases like this. before where it does go to that extreme. of a child could have easily have died. from this. Again, less than 30 lbs. I. think 28 pound 7-year-old boy just. terrible and obviously we would be. having a different conversation if that. child didn't make it out alive. What are. your thoughts? >> Yeah, I mean it's interesting that they. brought him in when they did. Maybe they. maybe the parents recognized that he was.

really failing. Um and that was what. tipped them over to get over their quote. unquote embarrassment of what they had. done to this poor child. Um but if he if. it was a fatality um then they it would. it would be a capital offense in. Arkansas and they would be facing the. death penalty. And there again can't. emphasize like in this case I'm. surprised I'm saying that they're lucky. but they are lucky because again this. could have ended in such a terrible way. and it did end in a terrible way because. now a boy has to go through what next.

could be survival and just all the um. healing that he has to go through even. after this and done by his own parents. too no less. And then I think another. thing that stood out to me in this case. Jennifer is what the police chief um. said that there was money found in the. home. There was an abundance of food. found in the home. So, this really. didn't need to happen. I want to thank. ODO for sponsoring this episode of. Sidebar. ODO is a powerful all-in-one. business software that helps you manage. everything from sales to accounting and. yes, manufacturing. Schedule your.

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he and the signs of wear on the little. room that they were allegedly keeping. him in. Um, you know, the police made. note that there the hardware seemed to. be kind of worn down from repeated use. Um, there were markings on the wall that. suggest that somebody had been in there. for a while and there was human waste. There was feces and urine on the floor. um in that little room where he was. allegedly kept. And so it it it really. becomes a very intentional crime. And.

there were other children in the home. who were not in the same state as the. seven-year-old. thankfully. Um but one of the children. did say that um the parents were doing. employing similar tactics against the. 5-year-old child as well. Um so you know. all the children now are in protective. custody and will you know will be with. foster families um while this gets. sorted out and may will likely never. return to their biological parents um.

given the level of abuse and frankly. torture that happened here. And. obviously these cases are difficult and. they're difficult to discuss and it ends. up affecting so many people from the. victims, other family members, responding officers, medical um. personnel and and more. So I'm curious. to know, talk to me a little bit about. how these cases are even handled um kind. of from the start of a case like this to. what would be kind of your level into um. like the prosecution office. >> Yeah, these cases proceed very similarly.

to how any other criminal investigation. would proceed, right? that it comes to. attention of law enforcement, they move. in and they start investigating. Um. where we have minor children who are the. key witnesses um and the alleged victim, they're handled, you know, with care and. in a professional manner so that the. interviewers who will be talking to the. children will not be um inflicting. further trauma on them, but rather. allowing them to disclose their story in.

an age appropriate manner. Whether. that's through some play, using dolls um. to say, you know, show me what mom and. dad would do if if a child became angry, what would happen? And letting them sort. of demonstrate it. Um also that, you. know, these investigators also know. because they've been trained to work. with children, they know when to push. and when to pull back. And so it's not. nearly as an aggressive of as an. investigation as it may be if we were. talking about competent adults. um it is.

handled um more carefully and delicately. which also means it could take more time. um to really investigate this. Um a lot. of this case I think is going to turn to. on what the parents do and do not say. Um they've already made some admissions. to investigators from what we've been. hearing and so those admissions will be. you know used against them. Um, and then. if they disclose more details about what. actually happened and for how long it.

went for, then that could be used. against them too down the road. It seems. like right now this would be very. surprising if this case actually went to. trial. Um, I think that the evidence. seems so strong and so compelling that. these parents would be much better off. accepting responsibility earlier on in. in exchange for hopefully from their. perspective a lighter sentence. Um, but. you know, they may not they may choose. to fight this and think that they that. they have a chance. Um, but I think.

that's unlikely. I think given they've. already made admissions um and that they. they brought the child to the hospital, something tipped them over the edge that. allowed them to actually do the right. thing after doing the wrong thing for so. long. >> Um and I think that that's in one regard. a good sign that they will accept. responsibility and that this will not be. protracted, which would be beneficial, you know, to these children who need to. heal and to move on both physically and. mentally. And because this went on for.

years, and I just can't emphasize that. enough, years. Um, I'm curious why when. charging a case like this, why the. charge might not be like attempted. murder. Is it because of the whole. intent issue and the defense can. possibly argue there was no intent to. murder this child? >> Yeah. I mean, the police have said, the. investigators have said that more. charges could be coming. And I think. when they start to hear more. information, if the child is able to. talk about some of the things that he. experienced, um if the other children.

are able to, particularly the older. child, are able to talk about what they. saw, um this may turn into something. different. the attempted murder charge. would be very difficult in this case. because there was it was so systematic. and longterm. um that it's kind of like at any point. along that multi-year continuum where. they were doing this to the child. You. you kind of have to figure out at what. point did it become a risk of him dying? At what point was it reasonable to.

assume that he would die? I think he I. think when they got to that point where. it looked like he really was failing, again, according to the doctors, he was. on the brink of death, then they then. they came forward and and got him. medical treatment. And that that simple. fact alone would probably prevent an. attempted murder charge from coming out. against them. Um, however, if this child. does not make it, you know, despite. medical interventions, they will be. charged with murder. That makes complete.

sense. And and we know that Caitlyn. spoke with detectives telling them that. it was actually Chris was the one who. locked up the little boy in that closet. Does that do her any type of favors. here? >> Possibly. If she cooperates with the. prosecution, she might be able to. negotiate a lighter sentence for. herself. But the reality of it is she's. negligent by turning a blind eye to it. or not stopping it. Right? she had the. authority to to go to to leave that. house, call the police, call a neighbor.

and ask them, call child services. I. mean, there were so many things that she. could have done even if she herself. didn't make the phone call to. authorities. She could have done things. Um, what's also interesting too is that. this child apparent didn't doesn't. appear to have been in the school. system. >> Yeah. >> Um, and because if he was, this would. have been picked up on much earlier, right? teachers would have noticed, staff would. have noticed, guidance counselors would. have noticed, people in the community. would be saying that child, it's not the.

child's too thin to be just underweight, right? There would have been some. concerns. Um, and so that sort of the. fact that it happened behind closed. doors um and that it could happen behind. closed doors because it doesn't seem. like he was in the community really. contributed to the parents ability to. allow this to be prolonged. But the. mother certainly has culpability. Even. if she wasn't the one who physically. turned the key on that door, she was. definitely aiding and assisting um the. father and doing this. And then by. virtue of not.

saying anything to anyone. makes her culpable for this, >> right? And then just to think about the. seven-year-old boy went through what he. had gone through. And then just. detectives also indicating that the. three-year-old and the 5-year-old also. showed signs of abuse, but not as severe. as their older brother. But is that. something that you may have possibly. seen a lot in these types of cases that. maybe one victim gets kind of the brunt. of the suspect or defendants's anger and. mistreatment?

It. >> it can happen. I mean, we do see it. Usually abuse is more systematic though. So if one child's being abused, then. chances are the other ones are being. abused as well. It, you know, it will be. interesting to see if a more developed. timeline can come out for this. I mean, was there a period of time where he was. being properly nourished and cared for? Um, or did this start at a certain age. when maybe he became more vocal, more. defiant, asserting his independence. more, and that somehow challenged the. authority of the parents because that's.

what kids do, right? But maybe to these. parents it seemed like too much or they. couldn't handle it. Um, you know, it it. could be one of those things, but it is. we generally see if one child's being. abused that the other children are. And. sometimes it's the the physical abuse. may be less, but the emotional trauma is. still there. The emotional abuse is. still there because they are witnessing. their sibling being abused and in this. case, frankly, I call it tortured. um.

that that that has an emotional a. psychological impact on the siblings as. well. So no matter whether you look at. it from a physical standpoint or. emotional standpoint, there is a level. of abuse that's going to happen across. the board when this kind of systematic. abuse is happening at a home. >> And say for instance, this case does end. up going to trial. Is it possible that. the seven-year-old boy will have to. testify? >> Um unlikely because he's so young. It. would be a question of competency. >> Um, and that sort of depends on how me.

uh developed he is mentally which. probably suffered from the lack of. nutrition and the emotional and physical. abuse that he suffered. Um, so if he was. determined to be competent that meaning. that he can understand right from wrong, he can tell the truth, um, you know, he. understands the difference between a. truth and a lie, um, then yes, it's. possible that he could testify. Uh what. I think is more likely to happen here. and we've sort of already seen this. indication is that the mother is going.

to uh cooperate and and and testify. against the husband. >> Um you know and and I don't know if. Arkansas has a spousal disqualification. privilege the way that we do here in. other states. Um but if there is a. possibility that she could testify and. cooperate for the prosecution then I. think that's what would happen. said she. would take a lesser sentence and the. father if if he is in fact the one who. was really sort of the mastermind and.

the perpetrator of this horrific abuse. Um meaning like really he's the one who. turned the key. He's the one who tied. the ropes as opposed to her standing by. and letting it happen. Then I think she. probably will because it will it will. save her. She'll come out of this with a. much lighter sentence. Just going back to just this overall. horrendous story, it feels also kind of. deliberate in the sense that they were. keeping young children specifically. inside the home because like you had. mentioned before, it's unclear if the. children were enrolled in school where. they might have had somebody who were.

would be able to report this type of. thing, but also keeping the children. locked up so that way possibly the. neighbors wouldn't see them. But do you. think it's possible that maybe it was. kind of like an unknown secret inside. the neighborhood or maybe that they did. this purposely putting these kids in. isolation and putting them in what feels. like a torture home pretty much um just. in order to not have people see what. they're doing. But then at the same time. they're also saying that oh we were just. embarrassed to report this. We didn't.

want to get in trouble. That type of. thing. >> It feels very deliberate and it feels. very intentional. um which to me suggests that they were. keeping the children out of the. community to hide this. >> Yeah, >> it is always hard to know. People are o. tend to be reluctant to to step up and. and say things unless they have the. facts to support what they're saying. But I would like to believe that if the. the neighbors are seeing a child that. they know to be more than a few more.

than one or two years old who looks. emaciated. that they would raise you that they. would they would start to ring the bell. Um but it's hard to say. Um, however, the. the 28 pounds at seven years old, I. mean, I'm not a physician, but I have. children, and it's like that's like a. one-year-old, you know, maybe maybe a. one and a half year old. >> Um, so this really does seem like it. went on for a very, very long time. And.

I think it was very intentional. It was. very deliberate. It was very hidden. >> Um, that, you know, because outwardly, although the home was reportedly very. cluttered, there was food, there was. money. Yeah. >> Um, but then there was also this room, right, that was not in the for you, if. you walked into the home, you weren't. going to see it. You weren't going to. observe that right away. So, it does. feel very methodical um and and. deliberate to keep this a secret, >> right? Especially with the whole idea. that there was food around. This wasn't.

a situation, not to negate those types. of situations either, but it wasn't a. situation that they were wanting for. food and they were in desperate need for. food, especially given the fact that. this was going on for years. This wasn't. like, oh, this was after two months or a. week. Not that again, that makes that. any better, but it just seems so. deliberate and it's quite frankly. disturbing um what these parents are. accused of doing to young, very young. children. Um Jennifer Roman, I want to. thank you so much for your time and your. insight into this case. Before we sign. you off though, if you have a crystal. ball, do you think that this case is.

going to end in a plea deal or do you. think it's possible that, you know, they. could decide to go the other route and. go through trial? >> I think it's going to end in a plea. deal. Um, I think the risks to them to. go to trial, these are felony offenses. that carry a very significant potential. prison sentence. and if they could. negotiate something lighter for. themselves, um, then I think that that. would be in their best interests. And I. so I do think we're going to be looking. at a plea deal. And I think, you know,

as ironic as this may sound, I'm. actually a little bit encouraged that. they did actually bring the child to the. doctor. Like, yes, it took however long. it took. It should have never gotten to. that point. It's absolutely horrific, >> but they did do it. And so to me, and. they have talked to investigators. And. so to me that says there's some. recognition on their part, however. small, that this was wrong and now. they're trying to pull back a little bit. and protect themselves more. And that. may actually be a blessing for this.

child. I mean if there can be and for. and for their other children if there. can be a swifter resolution to this um. then it will allow everyone you know. those children to get the supports they. need get the proper care that they need. and hopefully start to heal emotionally. and physically. Um and I think the. sooner that can happen the better for. those for those young children. and I. hope that they're able to recover from. this emotionally, mentally, physically. because again, these just allegations.

are just horrible and horrendous. Jennifer Roman, again, thank you so much. for your time and your insight into this. case. I really appreciate it. >> You're very welcome. >> Thanks so much for joining us today and. subscribe to us anywhere you get your. podcast, whether it's YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcast. I'm Elizabeth Milner. filling in for Jesse Weber, and this has. been Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. [Music].