S.C. pair accused of starving, locking up and injuring adopted sons

SOCASTEE, S.C. (WMBF) – Two people are behind bars, accused of locking up and binding two adoptive sons and treating them so badly that the children might have died if they hadn’t run away.

Police arrested Davon Moore and Aleesha Washington on May 22 and charged them with two counts of kidnapping, three counts of unlawful conduct toward a child and two counts of abuse inflicting great bodily injury upon a child.

The charges stem from a case on May 7, when police found two boys at a business in the 6300 block of Bay Road. A police report described the two boys as “abnormally skinny.”

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Arrest warrants show that around 1 a.m. on May 7, the two boys ran away from a home in the 6000 block of Spice Bush Crescent and went to the business for help.

The two boys were taken into protective custody and admitted to a hospital. Warrants state that while at the hospital, the boys were found to have multiple fractures throughout their body, along with bruising, scarring and cuts.

According to the arrest warrants, a forensic interview was performed where the victims said that from December 2023 to May 2024, Moore and Washington would lock them in a room all day, withhold food, clothing and bathroom privileges, and would excessively physically punish them.

The warrants state the abuse was so bad, it resulted in permanent disfigurement and that the boys could have died if they had not been treated.

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The documents also show Moore and Washington would use zip ties and other restraints to tie up the boys’ hands and feet together.

According to the warrants, Moore and Washington would make a third boy at the home lock his adopted brothers in their room.

Moore and Washington are being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center with no bond.