Investigators said the children were kept from school and medical care before authorities intervened and removed them from the home.
VANCE, Ala. — An Alabama father is facing torture and child-abuse charges after investigators said he repeatedly restrained his young son to a bedframe as punishment, including while he left for work, according to court records reported by local and national news outlets.
David Wesley Phillips, 31, is accused of abusing two of his children at a home in Vance between July 10 and Aug. 17. The case came to authorities’ attention after a Tuscaloosa County school system coordinator and sheriff’s deputies went to the residence Aug. 17 because the children had not been enrolled in school, according to court documents obtained by WVTM.
An investigator reported seeing chains hanging from a bedframe and pills spilled on the floor beneath it during the visit, the records say. Deputies also found a handcuff attached to the younger child’s ankle. The boy told investigators that his father had placed him in what he described as a “timeout” before leaving for work and that he had been stuck to the bed, according to the deposition.
The older child told investigators that her younger brother had been restrained to the bed on multiple occasions over several months, according to the court records. Investigators also said she reported being physically punished after telling law enforcement about the alleged treatment of her brother. The children’s names have not been publicly released in the reports reviewed for this story.
Investigators said the older child described being isolated from friends and other family members and kept away from school and medical treatment. A report reviewed during the investigation listed torture among several diagnoses connected to alleged physical and psychological abuse and neglect, according to the court filing.
The school official’s Aug. 17 visit prompted a child abuse and neglect investigation. The Alabama Department of Human Resources took custody of both children the following day, WVTM reported. Authorities have not publicly disclosed additional details about the children’s current placement or medical conditions.
Phillips’ sister also told deputies that Phillips had said he used handcuffs as punishment by securing the younger child to the bed over a period of months, according to the court documents. The allegations contained in the deposition have not been proven at trial.
Phillips is charged with torture, willful abuse of a child under 18 and aggravated abuse of a child under 6, according to court records. He was being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond as of Wednesday. Public reports reviewed for this story did not indicate that he had entered a plea to the charges.
The case remains pending as authorities continue the criminal process. No additional charges or court dates were confirmed in the sources reviewed Wednesday, and officials have not publicly released further information about the children.