WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A Palm Beach County judge has sentenced Jupiter father Tim Ferriter to five years behind bars and five years probation.
Ferriter was found guilty of aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment; he was accused of detaining his adopted teenaged son in a box-like structure in the garage. That makeshift room became a kind of cell for the Ferriter boy: A Home Depot bucket to use as a bathroom, a door that locked from the outside, no light for long periods of time, and a Ring doorbell camera to monitor the youngster during his confinement.
At a Thursday sentencing hearing, Timothy Ferriter’s Defense put an author and mother who raises awareness about RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) on the stand and asked the judge to consider the difficult circumstances the family found themselves in because of the widely misunderstood condition and the stigma around it.
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Mr. Ferriter also addressed the court and his family in an emotional statement, apologizing to his adopted son, the victim, and talking about the love that he has for the boy, “with so many creative ideas,” Ferriter said through tears.
The boy gave a victim impact statement; at times visibly crying and calling for forgiveness and mercy.
Under Florida law, Mr. Ferriter could have been sentenced to more than 40 years, but has no criminal history.
Earlier in the day, a pretrial motions hearing was unfolding for wife and mother of the adopted boy, Tracy Ferriter.
She will be tried separately from her husband.
The family lived in Arizona before moving to Florida and has other adopted children and some biological children.
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