JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested two people for child neglect after investigators say they kept four kids in the cab of a semi-truck since 2019.
Keisha Epps and her fiancé, Tamra Stewart, were arrested last week and are being held in the Duval County jail.
Action News Jax got a copy of Epps’ arrest report, which lays out a narrative.
The JSO report says, “Since December of 2019, the four children have lived in the cab of a semitruck, all sharing one bed.”
It goes on to say that the children were “...rarely allowed out of the cab of the truck, even if they needed to use the restroom.”
It says the children were “fed poorly, did not attend school…did not receive medical care.”
The report also says that the children, “witnessed some sexual abuse by suspect 1 (Tamra Stewart) and confronted him,” but then Stewart, “beat them by punching their heads.”
When the children told Epps about the alleged abuse, the report says she “did not believe them, then called {redacted} derogatory names and continued to leave them alone with Suspect 1 (Stewart).”
“The problem is when a caretaker allows a child to be abused or abuses a child, fundamentally their sense of safety and the world change,” said Dr. Justin D’Arienzo, a Forensic Psychologist.
D’Arienzo says with the right care and resources, most kids can recover, but it can be difficult
“Often when kids experience something like this, they get displaced and they go from home to home as their caretakers are being rehabilitated. So that can do other damage too,” said D’Arienzo.
Epps and Stewart were arrested last week and are facing multiple child abuse charges.
Stewart is also facing sexual battery charges in central Florida.
We reached out to the company that Epps was employed by, Forward Air, for a statement. You can read their statement below:
“This individual is an independent subcontractor, not a Forward Air employee. She has been removed from service and is ineligible for dispatch while criminal proceedings are ongoing. The alleged conduct is inconsistent with Forward Air’s values and commitment to the highest levels of safety. Forward Air is fully cooperating with local officials on their investigation into this matter”
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