MARGATE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Margate couple was arrested for abusing their 15-year-old niece for nearly a decade, officials said.
Latricia Crawley, 46, and Benjamin Lockett, 43, are facing charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect with great bodily harm after a victim’s plea for help led to a shocking discovery of long-term abuse.
Investigators said Margate Police responded to the couple’s home on Wednesday, after the teenage victim reached out to her online instructor for assistance.
Upon arrival at the home, police reportedly found the victim with a laceration on her head and visible swelling, resulting from an assault by Lockett, detectives said. She was immediately transported to Broward Health Coral Springs for treatment.
During her medical examination, officers said they uncovered evidence of extensive long-term trauma on the victim’s body, including scars consistent with ligature marks, bruising, scar tissue, bite marks from insects and signs of malnutrition.
According to the arrest reports, the victim, who had been in the custody of Lockett and Crawley since 2014, detailed a horrifying history of abuse, including being locked in closets, bound with zip ties and enduring various forms of torture. Some of the notable incidents included:
- In 2019, Lockett kicked the victim in the chin, leaving a permanent scar.
- In 2021, Crawley oiled the victim’s knees and forced her to kneel on rice, resulting in permanent disfigurement.
- In the same year, Lockett tied the victim to a fixed object and struck her toes with a hammer.
- In 2022, Lockett and Crawley tied and bound the victim with a nylon rope, causing permanent disfigurement to her skin.
- In the same year, Lockett threw a pot of boiling water at the victim, scarring her stomach.
Authorities said the victim also revealed that Lockett and Crawley individually and jointly subjected her to various forms of physical and psychological abuse. She described being locked in closets, deprived of food and even having her eyes taped shut and her head dunked in water as punishment.
When police searched the couple’s home, they reportedly found locking mechanisms on the outside of two closets within the home and droplets of blood inside one of them. The victim had been living in these conditions for approximately 10 years.
While the victim was in police custody, authorities said, Crawley made no attempts to locate the teen or check on her welfare, expressing her desire to release custody of the victim.
“Within the home, there was signs that the child was confined against their will, and the child was placed in a situation that no child, or any human being, for that matter, should be placed in,” said Margate Police Lt. Al Banatte. “There was evidence of long-term abuse, malnourishment, harm to this child. This child suffered a lot over the last few years.”
Crawley and Lockett were taken into custody and transported to BSO Main Jail.
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