A Missouri couple are facing 12 felony charges each after police said they allegedly abused and neglected the woman’s two teenagers, as well as locking them in a chicken pen and forcing them to fight each other.
Chantel Hayford and her boyfriend, Jerry Menees, were taken into custody Tuesday after police searched her Potosi home amid an investigation into alleged ongoing abuse, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday.
Sheriff Scott Reed told KSDK that he was initially shocked by the alleged abuse reported by the Division of Family Services in December, but that Hayford immediately confessed to investigators on Tuesday.
Hayford and Menees allegedly refused to feed or house the teens, locking a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old in a chicken coop and using BB guns to shoot at them. Evidence shows a pattern of abuse, including forcing children to fight each other during a birthday “fight night,” the sheriff’s office said.
The alleged abuse spanned from January 2023 through December 2025, court documents obtained by KSDK said. The couple allegedly forced the teens to try methamphetamine, beat them and threw rocks at them.
Menees also allegedly pointed a gun at the teens and threatened to kill them, and Hayford is accused of inappropriate sexual contact with one of the teens, officials said.
Reed said local authorities never received any physical reports about the alleged abuse going on at Hayford’s home.
“Where they live is very rural. No neighbors close,” he told KSDK. “We never got a call from any school saying the kids are saying this or that. We never got a hotline call from DFS. We never got anything, though.”
Reed used this case as a reminder to adults that all reports of alleged abuse by children should be taken seriously.
“If a kid comes and tells you a crazy story, that don’t mean it isn’t true,” he said.
Both adults face 12 counts of neglect and child abuse. Hayford has been charged with four counts of child abuse, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of domestic assault and one count of sexual abuse.
Menees faces three counts of domestic assault, two counts each of abuse or neglect of a child, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and armed criminal action and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.
The pair is being held at the Washington County Jail without bond and have a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Anyone who believes a child may be in immediate danger that could result in death or serious harm should call 911.
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