Timothy Ferriter (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office via Jupiter Police Department)
The Florida father accused of locking up his adopted son inside a room he had built in the family’s garage heads to trial this week. Timothy Ferriter faces charges of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment and neglect of a child, court records show.
According to his arrest affidavit out of Palm Beach County, Jupiter officers were contacted by a contract worker after Ferriter asked him to build an office in his garage in December 2021, but once he completed his work, he thought the entire project “was very strange,” according to the affidavit.
“The room was built as an 8-foot-by-8-foot space in the garage with its own ceiling and door. [The worker] further advised the door had added a bolt lock and knob only on the outside, no knob inside so if someone were inside the office they would not be able to exit until someone opened the door for them from the outside. [The worker] state he was also instructed to build this space with electricity and install a window air conditioning unit as well as a camera in the ceiling.”
Timothy Ferriter appears in a Palm Beach County courtroom via Zoom (WPTV screenshot via Palm Beach County Clerk of Court)
A month later, Ferriter’s adopted 14-year-old son was reported missing on Jan. 28. Two days later, Jupiter officers responded to the Ferriter’s home at 10 p.m. to check up on the case to determine whether or not the teen had returned home. When they arrived, the family was reluctant to let officers inside, but “after a long conversation,” an officer was allowed to look around.
The officer on scene was eventually brought out to the garage to look around for any evidence or clues that could help him find the missing teen. There, the officer noted the small room inside the garage.
“The door was open and had a doorknob and deadbolt, both locking from the exterior of the room. To the left of the door was a light switch also on the exterior of the room. Inside of the room to the right was a small plain box spring and on top of that a mattress with a gray sheet and a pillow. Straight in the room was a small dark colored desk with schoolbooks and small children’s books along with a foldable chair; above the bed in the room was a black ‘ring’ brand camera. It should be noted the room was a small plain white structure with no paint or color on the walls and appeared to be drywall. The floor was a bare garage floor with part of an indoor-outdoor rug covering it.”
During the officer’s investigation, several descriptions of the room were given, including that the room was built as an office, then the family used it as a storage facility, and eventually, it was said that the space was used by “all of the children,” according to the arrest affidavit.
The next day, officers with the Jupiter Police Department showed up at Ferriter’s son’s school after there were reports of him being on campus. Drones found the son running near the front of the school.
Timothy and Tracy Ferriter appear in court for a motions hearing (WPTV screenshot)
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Once the son settled down, the teen spoke with officers about his home life. According to Ferriter’s arrest affidavit, the teen would be woken up by someone in his home since he could not get out of his room because “his door is locked.” After using the restroom, he was allegedly advised to go back into his room where the door would be locked and the lights would be turned off. Eventually, the teen would be let back out of the room to go to school.
When he returned from school, he would be instructed to go back to his room. The teen told investigators he was always in “his room” and it would always be locked. He stated “he was not allowed to go anywhere else in the house,” according to court records.
The officer asked the teen why he originally ran away and he responded by stating, “Because I feel like no one loves me,” according to the affidavit. The teen later told officers he didn’t feel safe at his house because his family would get “really aggressive” with him, explaining once he was slammed against a wall, was often spit at, and spanked with a belt. He also told police that sometimes he had to use a bucket to go to the bathroom.
The teen concluded his interview with officers by stating he did not want to return to his family and pleaded with an officer to arrest him stating “he would rather be in prison than be back at home.”
Further investigation found several saved Ring videos recorded inside the 8×8 room — often showing Ferriter yelling at his teen son, tossing his mattress, grabbing him, and forcing the teen to empty the dirty bathroom bucket, according to the affidavit.
On Feb. 8, 2022, Ferriter and his wife, Tracy Ferriter, were arrested and booked into jail. Their trials are severed — meaning they both will have their own trial — at the request of Timothy Ferriter’s attorney, who claimed Tracy Ferriter had made multiple inconsistent statements throughout the investigation.
Timothy Ferriter immediately entered a not guilty plea and turned down a plea offer from that state for two years in prison plus five years of probation. His defense team claims his son was suffering from “reactive attachment disorder” and was aggressive and dangerous.
Jury selection begins Friday, Sept. 29, with opening statements scheduled for next week. Both Timothy Ferriter and Tracy Ferriter bonded out of jail after their arrests.
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