ZEARING, Iowa — Four members of a rural Iowa family are accused of kidnapping and abusing an 18-year-old relative who was handcuffed to a bed, beaten so severely that he suffered brain hemorrhages and multiple broken ribs, and was so malnourished that he weighed only 70. pounds (32 kilograms) when he showed up at a hospital earlier this year, court documents say.
Gary Graham Jr., 44, Danielle Graham, 42, Aaron Williams, 20, and a 16-year-old girl, all from Zearing, Iowa, were charged Monday with first-degree kidnapping and first-degree malicious wounding. All four will be arraigned on March 29. Court records show a judge issued an order banning them from having contact with the alleged victim. The teenage girl is being charged as an adult, but The Associated Press is not naming her because of her age.
A supervisor with the Story County Prosecutor’s Office said attorneys will be assigned, but that hasn’t happened yet.
The house is at the end of a residential street in Zearing, a community of 500 people about 50 miles north of Des Moines. Farmland, windmills and dirt roads are nearby. Stickers adorned the front and side doors of the ranch-style home, and Christmas lights still lined the roof. A dog barked from inside, but no one answered when a reporter knocked on the door.
The allegations stunned the community, Story County Sheriff’s Capt. Nicholas Lennie said Tuesday.
“It’s tragic. Our entire region is shocked, and rightly so,” said Lennie. “It is not common for one human to treat another in this way, let alone a family member. Unfortunately, the victim in this case had to endure months of abuse and being restrained in what most of us consider our safe place: our home.”
Court documents do not specifically state what relationship the teen had with the other family members, but an application for a search warrant shows that Gary Graham Jr. is not the teenager’s biological father. Lennie declined to comment on the specific relationships.
The teen is now out of the hospital, but is “still recovering and that will take quite some time,” Lennie said.
An Ames hospital alerted the sheriff’s office on Jan. 27 about an 18-year-old patient who was severely malnourished with multiple injuries, including brain hemorrhages, rib fractures and bruises and wounds all over his body. According to an affidavit filed in the case, the teen arrived at the hospital in a “semi-conscious to unconscious state.”
Medical responders determined the injuries were in various stages of healing, indicating they did not all occur at the same time, the document said.
Danielle Graham told police that the teen had left home in November after turning 18, and was not heard from until he showed up at the house on January 26 in such poor condition that she feared he would die , according to the court document. She said she and Williams took the teen to the hospital.
But the affidavit said a search warrant revealed cell phone messages, videos and photos that showed the 18-year-old had never left the home and that he was being abused by his family members.
The teen told investigators he was physically abused by Gary Graham Jr. and Williams. He said he was tied to a bed at night, and often during the day, and no one would help him. Police said an order on Amazon.com under Danielle Graham’s account showed the purchase and delivery of handcuffs, shackles and a handcuff key.
In the search warrant application, an officer wrote that a guidance counselor said the teen was taking his education online but apparently wanted to attend classes in person.
The counselor provided police with an email dated Oct. 19 in which the teen asked the counselor to “email my mom and ask if I can come to school” for classes, adding, “Don’t say it’s my idea was, please and thank you. .”
A week later, the teen wrote to the counselor again, saying, “They don’t want me to go unless it’s necessary,” followed by, “Can you require me to go to school,” the search warrant application said .
Court records show that Gary Graham Jr. served two years in prison after a domestic violence conviction – second offense in 2009. Additionally, in 2017, Gary Graham Jr.’s divorce settlement was finalized. with another woman modified to give the woman sole custody of the woman. a child “because of the abuse committed” by Graham.
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Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed to this report.