LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Four people were arrested in Pahrump Tuesday after a child was found tied up outside.
Michael Tracy, Jodi Tracy, Mellysa Byington, and Courtney Flores-Tracy were all taken into custody on child abuse charges.
Nye County Sheriff’s Office noted in an arrest warrant that a child was found “sitting out on the front porch with his hands tied behind his back and his legs tied together” with his face “completely covered by three masks.”
Officers added that it was 104 degrees outside when they arrived. The child was visibly crying and was “warm to the touch” with “flushed and dry” skin, the warrant reads.
Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue and the Division of Child and Family Services were called to the scene shortly after.
An officer removed the child’s restraints and observed that the child’s “legs and arms were red while the rest of [their] body was white.”
The officer continued, “I also observed that [the child] had ligature marks that dug into the skin on his wrists and legs where [the child] was bound.”
The officer then made contact with Jodi Tracy, and when asked why the child was tied up outside, she replied that he “peed in the bed on purpose” and that he was tied and placed outside “as a lesson.”
Further investigation revealed that Jodi and Michael Tracy would regularly leave the child outside while tied up, due to what they described as behavioral issues.
“Jodi has run out of options after [the child] has been breaking stuff and harassing other kids so she has resorted to using mittens to tie up [the child] and contain him,” the warrant states. “Jodi also has to tie [the child] up at night with mittens and place [the child] in a dog crate to prevent him from harassing other kids.”
Jodi was taken into custody, along with her two daughters Mellysa and Courtney. Michael Tracy would also be taken into custody after informing officers that he was aware of the abuse.
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