GhLinks Media
A jury will decide the fate of Timothy Ferriter, whose case went to trial Tuesday, more than a year after police accused him and his wife, Tracy, of confining one of their four children in a box-like structure in the garage of their Jupiter, Florida, home.
The state will try the Ferriters separately in the case, which drew international attention after their arrests in February 2022, with courtroom TV channels covering it for hours at a time.
Besides aggravated child abuse, Timothy Ferriter, 48, faces charges of false imprisonment and child neglect
Tim and wife Tracy Ferriter adopted children
Ferriter’s daughter, who is being referred to as FF, testified that he was a disciplinarian who treated his adopted son RF more harshly than his other children and exiled him to a windowless room in the garage for most of the time that he was home.
The 17-year-old testified remotely via closed circuit TV, as her parents Tim and Tracy Ferriter watched from the courtroom. The couple presented a united front, entering the courtroom together holding hands, before Tracy took a seat in the gallery behind her husband, the defendant.
The couples’ adopted daughter from China said there were days that went by when she did not see her brother.
He was only permitted to move freely about the home for brief periods.
According to the teen, he did not get treats or snacks as often as she and her sister did; and he was not permitted to have a phone or take part in the activities she and her sister enjoyed.
He mostly he spent his time in his room or outside the house doing yard work.
He was relegated to the cell-like room in their garage, while the rest of the family lived in the main house.
When asked if her father was ever physically aggressive with her brother, she responded by telling the jury that she saw the defendant ‘grab him by the neck and haul him to his room.’
The defendant’s daughter said her brother appeared to be punished for minor infractions, such as not answering questions, talking back, or playing with them too roughly. While the defense suggested the other Ferriter children needed protection from their brother, FF testified she never felt threatened by him and did not feel unsafe around him.
- 17 years old – born in China adopted as a toddler by the Ferriters
- Brother RF born in Vietnam and adopted by the Ferriters
- She has a younger sister Nolah and a younger brother Pierce
- Parents disciplined her brother more harshly and was forced to live in a room in the garage while the rest of the family lived in the main house.
