Background: The intersection of Quarry Road and South Lancaster Street in Swatara Township, Pa. (Google Maps). Insets (from left to right): Jade Shuey and Stephanie Schaffner (Lebanon County District Attorney”s Office).
The Pennsylvania case in which authorities say a 5-year-old boy was locked in a filthy room with wooden boards and zip ties has expanded, as authorities have charged two more suspects, and two others face a new charge.
Jade Shuey and Tucker Heagy, both 21, as well as 42-year-old Stephanie Schaffner, had all been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, as Law&Crime previously reported. Shuey and Heagy also face additional charges, including aggravated assault on a victim less than 13 years old, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault on a victim less than 13 years old, conspiracy to commit child endangerment, and unlawful restraint of a minor.
Now, Shuey and Schaffner have each been charged with criminal conspiracy to commit obstruction in a child abuse case, Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) announced this week.
Scott Schaffner, 59, and Cathy Schaffner, 62, “voluntarily surrendered themselves to authorities” on Sept. 29 and were charged with criminal conspiracy to commit child endangerment and criminal conspiracy to commit obstruction in a child abuse case. They each posted bail and were released from jail.
The case dates back to the morning of July 10, when PSP was called to the intersection of Quarry Road and South Lancaster Street in Swatara Township, Pennsylvania, an area about 95 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
Witnesses reported finding a 5-year-old boy “naked walking in the middle of the road,” and troopers brought the child to a hospital for evaluation.
Investigators said they determined that the boy “escaped” from a nearby home on North Poplar Street in the township. Authorities went there and allegedly observed “[h]oarder conditions” inside, such as “trash throughout, hundreds of flies,” and “limited room for maneuvering the house” due to the “clutter.”
That reportedly wasn’t all.
One bedroom had a baby gate “affixed to the outside of the door frame” and held together by “numerous zip ties and duct tape,” according to authorities.
“Above the baby gate, there was miscellaneous wood boards drilled into the outside of the door frame to prevent the male child from escaping the bedroom,” PSP said, stating the room belonged to the 5-year-old boy. “Feces was observed to be smeared on the walls, feces smeared on the bedroom window, a bed was observed to be torn apart with food all over it, trash was observed on the floor, hundreds of flies flying around the bedroom and the residence, along with various children’s toys scattered throughout.”
Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said the child “lived in hell.”
“He lived locked behind caged bars, able to look out at his family but not live a real life,” Graf added, according to regional NBC affiliate WGAL. “He existed in pure filth.”
Shuey was identified as the boy’s mother, Heagy as Shuey’s boyfriend, and Schaffner as the child’s grandmother. It is unclear how Scott and Cathy Schaffner relate to the victim.
“His mother and grandmother failed him. Every second of every minute of every day, that child deserved a better life and maternal love,” the DA added. “Our Office intends to fully prosecute these heinous criminals and hold them fully accountable for the abuse. It’s a sad reality that their prison cells will be far cleaner and far more accommodating than the living conditions they intentionally created for that little boy.”
Scott and Cathy Schaffner each have a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 22.
The other three defendants are scheduled for a jury trial Nov. 16.
