The Bristow couple accused of sealing their three young children in a room with drywall in March appeared in court Thursday.
Christina Dawn Moore, 27, and John Michael Robey, 34, pleaded guilty to three counts each of felony child abuse and neglect.
Prosecutors said the couple nailed a 5-1/2 foot high sheet of drywall in the doorway to a bedroom in their house on Loft Court in Bristow. Behind the drywall, the couple’s three young daughters, ages 1, 2 and 4, were trapped in the room, according to the prosecution.
Police said the oldest child used a mattress to climb over the wall, escaping to the house next door to look for help. The neighbor told investigators she took the toddler back to her house to look for her parents, but was unable to find them. She told investigators that she found the other two children screaming, wearing only diapers, and covered in feces. The neighbor said she bathed and clothed the children before taking them back to her home and calling the police.
Officers responded to the call and said they found needles, smoking devices, and several prescription pill bottles in the parents’ bedroom.
Robey was sentenced Thursday in Prince William Circuit Court to serve three years of probation. He was also given a suspended prison sentence of three years on each charge, for a total of 9 years. A judge continued Moore’s sentencing to May 3 and ordered her to return a drug treatment program. Prosecutors recommended that Moore receive the same sentence as Robey.
