Mom Realizes Cops Found Her 3-Year-Old Trapped in Cage

What's this in this playpen right here?

What do you mean?

Did you put a human child in that playpen?

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Oh, it's just a net pipe.

Geez.

Do you know what that is?

They were zip-tied in a cage. The 29th, 1922.

They were burned to death.

They told me to play with the cops.

They would kill my family because he knows where they are." When a woman alleges that she was robbed and raped by a vengeful couple, an Ohio investigation quickly descends into a twisted world of drugs, crime, and unthinkable child endangerment. As the couple flees, it will be up to the cops to stop this madness before the worst can happen. You're gonna kill one of us? The following report is based on official police records. Hours before deputies in Hawking County, Ohio

would find a toddler locked in a makeshift cage, the first moments of this bizarre case opened with a young woman claiming to have been beaten and robbed.

Some man brought her here and he said she came out of the woods to his cabin and asked him for help. And he brought her here because she said she came out of the woods to his cabin and asked him for help and he brought her here because she knew who we were. She was pretty well messed up man, them boys did a number on her. She said she had some money and they wanted the money. And he wasn't giving them the money. And so they beat her down and then she ran through the woods. She had briars and all over her. All over her face.

All over her face.

Horrible.

Horrible.

Here she is, she's got some scratch marks all over her. She's got some red spots on her boot.

Looks like some of the posture.

The couple says that they drove the young woman, Megan C, to her father's house earlier today.

The man that dropped her off here told me he was going to call the police and file a report. I said, that's the best thing to do. And Megan said, no, I don't want to do that. I just want to wait for her. She just wanted to go to her dad's and get away from the trailer.

The next stop for the deputies is clear, but they quickly realized they're not about to get the cooperation they might've expected.

Is Megan here?

No. Okay, we want to check on her. We heard that she was hurt.

No, I know her.

She was dropped off here.

Yeah, she's not here.

Okay.

Was she beat up?

No.

No.

Could you have any idea why somebody would tell us that? A few people?

No.

Would you care to talk to me for a moment?

Instead of through the door?

Yeah, go around back.

Suspicious that Megan's father isn't being truthful, the deputies head around the house to dig deeper.

I mean, can you tell us what's going on?

No, no.

I don't want to tell you what's going on, myself.

When did she leave?

When did she leave?

Yesterday.

We were told she was brought here today, just a little bit ago after she was assaulted.

Actually wrong.

No, she wasn't.

I've already made contact with them and interviewed them.

They brought her here within the last hour.

Well, I told you I didn't see nothing on her.

Okay, so, but you just told us that she wasn't here today and now how could that be if you're now telling me that you didn't see anything on her?

She was here for a little bit, but left.

Okay. If she's here, right now we are not concerned with her warrants, okay? That's why you're lying to us. So I would rather just talk to her, because right now I'm looking at her as a victim more than anything else. Okay? Because if someone did rob her and did do this to her, they deserve to go to jail today.

So if she's here, I would like to speak with her.

Yeah, then take her to jail, right? Huh? Then take her to jail?

If there's any way around that.

If there's any way around that,

then we will try all means possible.

Megan's dad promises to give them a call when his daughter returns, but the deputies aren't taking that for an answer.

I believe that she's here. I believe your daughter is here in the house. I'm not gonna lie to you. And I really wish you'd stop lying to me.

Go in and tell her to come out and talk to us.

We'll wait for you over here.

Her partner waits by the front door until a sudden shout catches his attention.

Yeah, I take it out.

So she's not here?

Yep, he said he was sleeping.

When he went in there to look, she's not there.

Megan's family agrees to let the deputies look around, and in a case that will grow to involve many forms of crime and deception, the victim's elusiveness is only the beginning.

Her cell phone is in here on charge, her money's laying on there, her purse is here, and a cold drink is still in that bedroom. She's in this trailer somewhere.

But Megan is nowhere to be found, leading the deputy to seek help from her mom.

You need to tell us where she's at. I don't have any clue.

I'll help you tell me where she is. You're okay. She will be okay.

I don't know how I'm going to live without her.

You're not going to live without her.

Will you try to keep her from taking her to jail?

I'll do my best. He's hiding. You're okay. You're okay.

I will take good care of her.

You're okay.

I promise you.

You're okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I can tell you're upset.

I can tell that you are not feeling better.

With Megan's hiding spot revealed, the deputies devise a ruse to confront her family and friends, preventing her from knowing that her mom gave away the game.

We know there's a high probability of her being in here. Okay? Because no one's gonna leave their phone, leave all their cash, especially if they were just robbed for some of their cash. They're not going to leave the rest of it.

Probably not.

I don't know.

Unlock his cabinet. Unlock his cabinet or I'm going to bust the lock off of it.

You heard something in the cabinet? Yeah, it's moving around. I'm gonna ask you right now. Is she in the cabinet? Stay still Megan. We heard something in the cabinet. Is she in the cabinet sir?

Megan if you're in that cabinet you need to tell me now. All right Megan when he opens that just keep your hands up where we can see him. Everything will be just fine. You are safe.

We are going to take care of you, okay?

I'm molested.

I have to go to jail.

You are a victim.

That is our first priority.

No, you are our first priority, Megan.

But amid the absurdity of having to track her down in a locked cabinet, Megan now drops

a bombshell accusation. He molested me, his girlfriend did, and he raped me, and now I gotta go to jail like

this? Here's the deal, okay? I want to put the

people who did this to you behind bars. Yeah, but I'm gonna be in jail for a long

time. Megan, we don't even know what your warrants

were for. I need to go. I can't.

As Megan wrestles with the consequences of coming forward, her mom gets into it with her family.

You ain't sh**. Get out of the way. Get away from me.

I'm going to be leaving.

I'm going to be leaving.

I know.

You might fall on me.

I just want her.

Yeah.

What is it? You want me to give her a light? Yeah. I didn't tell you she was here, did I?

I didn't say that.

No, you're going to stay there on guard because you want that money, don't you?

No, I want her money.

You're not getting it.

I don't want that money, Heidi. You're not getting it. It's going to be taken care of. No. Shut up. No, he left it up to me, Shane. That's a real man, ain't it?

Huh?

Well, I didn't want you to honor.

That's a real, yeah, you left it up to me.

Can somebody light it for her?

I don't see.

As her family fights it out, Megan reveals that she's got much bigger worries about them.

You can't run around hiding from us

or not run to us when there's a problem. That's when I saw her. And they told me, they told me if I talked to the cops, he would kill my family, because he knows where they are.

Megan C. says that her attackers are Franklin, TJ Varney, and his girlfriend, Megan Smith, both of whom she considered friends. And after being transported to the hospital for treatment and a rape evaluation, she gives a shocking account of what happened this morning.

This all happened to me because my boyfriend's in jail in West Virginia, she gives a shocking account of what happened this morning. from my dad on cash up that I pulled off the cash up card. So how much do you think they got? They got like 60, 60. They thought they were going to get the money because I had $1,500 on me, but...

They didn't get any of that. You had it somewhere else.

I had it somewhere else and it was in the lock I got, but I'm not completely stupid.

She says TJ agreed to pick her up and take her to West Virginia. Instead, he and a friend showed up and took her back to his trailer compound where until just recently, she had also lived. Megan Smith was waiting at the home

and the couple was angry.

He got mad because he said that we threw his dead grandpa's hat away and that's why he did what he did, tried to rob me and that's why they did what they did to me to get even with my boyfriend. And Megan said her reasoning was her dad's sister's stuff

was thrown away.

That's not what happened.

We backed up everything as we were told to.

She and her boyfriend recently moved off the property, but she says that the anger over how they left was nothing more than a cover story.

There was a set up for an again go. They were all in on it.

The assault happened where?

In his mom's garage.

In the garage.

Yeah.

And straight after the assault, I'm assuming is when the other stuff occurred, right?

Yeah.

And that was also in the garage?

Yes. And I then, as soon as I got a chance, I took off running, and I ran through the woods,

and that's why I had these bursts and balls in my hair.

Megan agrees to take care of her warrants and concludes with a warning about the couple's children who are currently in the custody of TJ's mother Ella. They have them two kids there

and the little boy saw a lot of the assault. The little girl was just inside but they did the drugs right in front of her like like in the same room as her. And someone needs to get out there and drug test Ella, because that's not fair to that little girl. She's an angel.

When deputies descend that night on what they call the Varney compound, the children will soon become priority number one. But first, they must figure out from the others on the property where exactly TJ Barney and Megan Smith can be located.

So who's actually living in that little place here now?

Nobody.

Nobody?

Where's TJ living at?

I ain't seen him. I was not in here.

Oh, bull.

You, listen, I already told you,

you lied to us, you go to jail. I did not lie to you.

I went in. jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I'm not going to jail. I mean, at one was you. Look, I'll run you myself all the way to Columbus. I don't care, but if you lie again,

you're gonna go to jail.

Do you really think we would've came with this many people if we didn't already know he was here? No, no. Okay.

That's not fair.

I ain't saying that.

I ain't saying that.

The other tenants aren't much help, We were just talking to Maggie, TJ, and we have to back to our shoes before we leave.

I got a four-wheeler, bro, I can work it.

It's clear.

It's a good call, sir.

Yeah, let's go tonight and see whenever we can.

You guys are on it.

We are clear.

We are clear.

We are clear. Megan Smith and TJ have fled into the woods together, but when the deputies arrive at their last known location, the home of TJ's mother, Ella Webb, the focus quickly shifts to the couple's young children.

So Megan abandoned her kids once again?

Yes.

Well, now I've had this

since she got out of the hospital.

But not.

No.

So, hey, Captain?

Yeah.

Tell a lie.

When did you last see Daddy?

Hey, when was Daddy here?

Hey, give this to your grandma.

You'll call my grandma. Was Daddy here today? Yeah.

He was.

When did you see Daddy last?

10 minutes ago.

I mean, I'm not gonna lie.

I did not see him.

Daddy left?

Huh?

Daddy left?

Daddy left?

Yeah. Where did daddy lead to? There's one dog. Huh?

As the deputies follow the three-year-old boy into the home, they notice a disturbing structure in the living room.

What sits in this playpen right here?

What do you mean? This.

Did you put a human child in that playpen?

No. He sleeps out at night. I have to watch him. But no, he sleeps in the bed with me.

Ella, you put a human being in this cage? No. Go out there and sit down Ella. Go out there and sit down. Hi. You're right, I love little guys. We come in, he was in there, she had the untied, not in to get him.

The deputies who were first on the scene described finding the three-year-old boy inside a dirty pack and play, its top opening covered by a wooden gate attached with string and zip ties. The report indicates that this turned the pack and play

into a cage, preventing the child from getting out.

They were zip-tied in a cage.

Yeah, you said 2919.32.

You heard something like that?

No.

How many times have you been in there?

Quite a bit.

And Megan ditched him.

Megan?

Megan Smeth, the one that ran with TJ.

He ran with Dr. R.

When they begin taking the playpen apart, the deputies discover more horrors waiting within.

Oh, Jesus.

Oh, God.

Hey, ask him if he was drinking all that. Hey, is this your sippy cup, buddy? Was this your sippy?

Is that, is that, is that yours?

Yeah?

Oh, God.

When did you have that?

Today?

Ew.

Huh?

You can't eat bugs and you can't smell it?

Child.

This was in the crib when I took it apart.

It's the part I'm building.

Faced with more than they expected to find out here, the deputies call child services.

We're on scene in the search warrant. There's two and a three-year year old that was at the house. It was a rape and a robbery that occurred here. As we pulled up to the front door, the SWAT team, the mother and the suspect,

or actually they're both suspects,

they're both great people, proper girl. They ran out the back door and into the woods. So they left their picture. He was actually, they had him in a locked cage.

Is that how you said it?

Okay, so other than that,

what were the important conditions for you guys?

Oh, not the worst I've been in. There's knives everywhere in the house

that's accessible to children.

But as the deputies will soon see for themselves, knives aren't the only items within the children's reach.

Hey, hold on, hold on, hold on.

What do you got?

Okay.

Oh, it's just a metal pipe.

Jesus.

You know what that is?

That's exactly what that is.

No, that's a metal pipe.

We need to take that.

Yeah, I know.

It's just running around.

That's right.

I mean, it's on the metal.

It says Fisher Price on the side.

Yes, I stopped her.

She's quiet now.

As troubling as the situation looks for the children here, their parents are on the run and Ella has been arrested. In the meantime, the deputies still have the original disturbing allegations to investigate. It was like they were turned on by each other by it. And then like they were kissing, she was kissing me and then I closed my eyes and just prayed

for it to be over.

So this is where this happened I think for sure?

Yes.

Gotcha.

Stuffed her fingers inside, also sodomized her.

And there's two receipts over there on top of the stove for Shawn Lee today, which is where they went to pick her up at.

In addition to the receipts, the deputies find a very peculiar journal.

Oh, oh, oh.

First time rule is broken, punishment spank three times, flog three times, place on the end with palms out for 15 minutes. If same rule is broke again, the punishment will be on ease for five to 10 times, say they're 30, 40 minutes.

Phone will be taken one day, spank five to 10 times, not allowed on the phone, clean whatever daddy says, clean and be naked.

I see that.

If the investigators have questions about this journal, they'll have to wait. The man who might be able to answer them is in the woods somewhere behind the property.

Well, right when you were- Oh, he works at his thing, man.

What was that all about?

That was TJ.

What's he talking about?

He was saying that he was stuck,

come down here to help.

Yeah.

And then he unstuck himself?

Yep.

And then he said he wasn't going to jail,

and he didn't make another noise.

So maybe he's definitely back there. I don't think he was staying. Oh, he's back there, I talked to him.

I was back there.

Did he talk back to you?

Yeah.

Neither TJ nor Megan will emerge from the woods tonight. In a statement to the press, the chief deputy says, I very, very strongly encourage Mr. Varney and Ms. Smith to immediately surrender themselves to law enforcement. If they choose to run from their responsibilities as they did tonight, the Hawking County Sheriff's Office will tirelessly leverage every local, state, and federal resource available

to bring these two to justice. The next day, deputies are back out at the so-called compound where the stakes are soon raised yet again.

Who's that C.P.J. at?

Huh? I don't know.

Where were they? Where's they? They went that way.

They went that way?

Yup. What did he say?

He said he was going to kill himself. That's what he said.

Does he have a weapon?

What exactly did he say? He said I was going to kill myself. I'm going to kill myself?

No. He said he was going to kill myself. I'm going to kill myself?

No, you, uh, policeman.

Uh-huh.

You're going to kill one of us?

Yeah.

He was going to, what he trying to tell you,

that he said he was going to get in and shoot him?

Suicide by cop.

He said he was going to get, he was going to kill him.

With a new danger in the air, the deputies move quickly when a report from their partners comes over the radio.

Someone's got a address for me in the creek bed, runner.

Got him detained?

I love you, baby.

I love you.

I'm sorry. If you're looking at the trailer, we're just left of it. We want to bring him out.

Is it better that way or this way? This way, sir, better. You're gonna walk through a million briars over there. You're best to jump across the creek right here

and go back up over the hill, sir.

We're not far from the road. We're gonna walk him out.

After navigating through the thick woods and a creek, the suspects are padded down and taken into official custody.

I haven't searched for anything.

I don't have anything else. I don't have anything else. There might be some stuff in my pocket. I know there's a straw.

A straw?

OK.

Yeah, I don't have.

There's a bucket of cigarettes. Don't dig for anything.

I'm not sure what bear in my pocket.

I think it's a pipe and some teddy on this side.

It didn't fall out, one piece of foil.

You have kids?

Yeah.

Why didn't you guys come out of the woods last night when deputies were up here looking for you? I did, but when I came out, everybody was gone. You can look at me, I promise. I was stuck in a briar bush. Your child was stuck in a playpen. She turned into a cage.

Were you aware of that?

No.

Oh, now, come on.

You're getting stuck by briars, too.

She's in the house.

I didn't know she was in the house.

Well, tell us the truth about that, okay?

Because she said that you know about the playpen, right? Is there a playpen in the house? Yeah, there's a playpen in the house.

Megan and TJ are taken to the station where the cops will have many more questions. And as it turns out, they aren't the only ones.

Can you tell us why you did this to the toddlers?

I didn't do nothing to those people.

The reporters can be bypassed, but the detectives won't be so easily dismissed. TJ is interviewed later, and unlike his girlfriend, he decides to take a guess as to why. Just the same, that's it.

My niece.

Gotcha.

She called me and said that she was going to have me put in jail. Uh, same, and I touched her. And I know better than that. She knows better than that, and I would never do nothing like that.

I would say the situation is closely related, but doesn't have anything to do with him.

Okay.

So this has to do with Megan. She was at the house yesterday. That's the so the general synopsis is that Of course she's not gonna tell me dope but she said we're doing about 60 she had 60 bucks on her I'll tell you I'll be honest. It was worth way more than that. It was fentanyl. That's why I'll glass tube That's why I took it. It was a great house So it had been about 160 dollars on the street, but that's all I took was fetty.

She came over and she got my girlfriend better, my wife. I caught my wife making my Megan better. She left the vial sitting next to all her bags. I picked it up. I walked out. She didn't see me walk out with it.

I come back into the garage. We're smoking. She says, where's my fetty? I'm like, crazy, I don't know where your fetty's at. You put it up. And then she walked away screaming, saying that I stole, I stole, I stole. So she knew that I'd stole it,

but that's all, that was it, fentanyl. Gotcha.

Was it an opportunist thing?

To take the fentanyl, yeah, I'm a take the petty, yes sir. His girlfriend isn't so ready to admit that Megan was even at the property yesterday, forcing the detectives to lay out the accusation in full.

TJ went and picked her up in Shawnee, made a pit stop back at Ella's house. From what I get from her, a pre-planned assault took place in the driveway slash the garage, primarily with TJ being the aggressor, and that from there she

was forcibly raped in the garage by you and TJ. What? An assault slash robbery occurred. These guys know me I would never assault a woman I felt bad enough stealing the fentanyl from her. And then that a rape occurred afterwards. What? In the garage. Oh my God, never.

Oh my God.

So you're saying none of this is true and none of this occurred?

Oh my God, no.

None of it occurred at all.

Who got raped, her?

She did.

Oh yeah, I'd like to have a DNA and everything down there. That never happened. I walked out with the fentanyl and that was his, her. I thought me and her were friends.

I think she thought the same until yesterday.

There were fingers shoved inside of her, nothing else. Testing, I never would do nothing like that to any woman.

So you don't know anything about an assault? No.

TJ assaulting her, smashing her cell phone. I don't know anything about an assault? TJ assaulting her, smashing her cell phone? Taking any money from her? No, I don't know nothing about that. I bet you her DNA is nowhere on me. I never touched that girl. You didn't assault her and take her phone? No sir, I did not. I took the fentanyl and I walked out of the garage. That was it sir. You didn't smash her phone or anything? No, sir, she threw her phone at me. No, sir, I did not.

Both TJ and Megan are adamant in their denials, but it's not long before their stories start to diverge, if only slightly. Megan admits that both she and TJ were angry about the way Megan C had moved off the property.

TJ took her phone out of her hand and smashed it. And she started crying. She said, please don't do this to me. I said, make up side, let's talk. We walked to the truck. We talked all the way to the truck. At this point, TJ had done took the dope and everything.

There was never no rape that happened. The rape happened. It happened in 30 seconds. Then I walked out the garage door and I come back in.

You're saying no sexual assault occurred?

No, sir. Absolutely no assault occurred. No assault, period. How long was TJ alone in the garage with, uh...

About three minutes.

What?

About three minutes.

So it's not 30 seconds, it was about three minutes?

Yeah, but I mean, I was right there, I was walking around the backyard.

How long were you alone with her? I wasn't. I was never alone with her. Never alone with her.

Oh well, that's not what we got.

Maybe five seconds, I don't know.

We got about three minutes.

Let me see, Megan was out in the yard wanting to fight after the fetty and it all came out.

She told us about that.

And she fell. I come running out and help her up, I ran back in. Maybe a minute and a half, maybe one to three minutes, yes, maybe. You know your little diary sex fetish book that you guys have?

Oh, oh, oh!

Punishment, spank three times, flog three times, place on the edge of the palms out for 15 minutes.

I don't know.

You know what I'm talking about.

No, I don't. You know what I'm talking about.

You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Honestly, if I could see it, I would tell you.

Yeah, I probably would.

It's a spiral notebook.

It's a spiral notebook. because we are submissive. Can I tell you that some of the stuff that was describing has happened to her

was written in that book?

She lived in my house with her. She lived in my house. I was in jail. Me and my husband in jail.

They went in, they went through everything I have.

It becomes clear that if the accusations are true, the couple won't be confessing today. However, that still leaves one other significant issue on the table.

Do you know of anything about your boy being put in the pack and play with the baby gate zip tied and tied to the top of it?

No, they asked me to go outside.

I would not do that to my kids.

So when SRT hit the house last night, that's how we found him. We found him in the pack and play with the baby gate attached to the top of it securely.

He was inside the pack and play with a soiled diaper and a baby bottle with curdled milk in it.

What?

Inside the pack and play with the baby gate on top of it.

Ella had to just put him in there

because he wasn't in there when I took off.

There's no way that Ella put that child in the pack and play, put the cover over top of it and zip tied it in the short period of time that we made it to the front door and you guys ran out the back. It is physically impossible.

So we know, we know, Detective Wright and I know, that you are not being honest.

Ella was also confronted about it last night after she was arrested.

I would never hurt him.

Okay, was there a reason the way that was done?

He slips off and I was getting in the shower and I can't trust him to even get in the shower. He comes out the front doors.

OK, so you did that just so you could get a shower before you run off. Yeah. You don't have like locks on the door.

I do have locks, but he knows he's like a little.

So my son. He won't stay in his playpen at nighttime if we don't put something on top of it. And he likes to wander around the house and get ahold of cigarette lighters.

Okay.

So...

How do you secure him so that he doesn't... Usually it's a cage or like a dog cage he'll be put on top of his playpen and that's it, set down on top of it. But he's got where he moves that, he tips it over so it gets secured, but like, it'll tie things. Usually it's tied by little pieces of sheet. Yeah, I mean, just whatever they could put on there. Zip ties is a little much, man, because if something happens,

you ain't gonna be able to get him out of there fast enough. Yeah, that's what I always had a problem with that too.

Whether the danger is that the boy will run out the door, grab lighters, or even something else.

It's just a neck pipe.

Megan insists she didn't know the top was locked down.

I didn't know he had a zip pipe in it.

I didn't know he was protecting it.

So you knew the cover was open?

I knew that that was put over top of it, Ella told me, because Ella told me she couldn't handle it.

So I was telling him. So you're aware that your children, child, was in the back and play and that a cover was placed over top of it?

I thought that it was just sitting on top of it that he could get out.

I didn't know that it was zip tied down.

Why would there be a cover over top of it if you think he could get out? That is bull crap. You can stop lying to me at any point in time. Do you understand that? I thought that it had Velcro on it. I didn't know that it was so tight.

So we do have a search warrant for the property, but I want to make sure that it's OK for us to take pictures of the... It's a pack and play, isn't it?

Why would you guys want to hurt me? I don't hurt that child. No, you don't take pictures of the pack and play. Why would you to hurt me?

So I could live as sissy? I don't hurt you.

Yeah, you do.

Every experience I've had, you know, this is her.

Ella Webb pled guilty to attempted endangering children, a fourth degree felony, and was sentenced to one year in prison. Two months later, she was given judicial release and placed on five years community control.

I didn't know they had a case in it. Did she zip tie the baby to the top of it? No, I didn't. He's been staying there for the last three days. He usually stays at my mom's in Chansey. So why would you leave him there? Because I didn't have nowhere else for him to go.

Megan Smith pled guilty to one count of endangering children, a third degree felony, and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Those kids are yours, right?

Yes, sir, they are. But I wasn't in no position being on the run to take care of them either.

Understandable.

Well, they're in shelter care now.

So they're in foster family, an undisclosed location.

Franklin T. Varney, AKA TJ, pled guilty to child endangering, a third degree felony, and was sentenced to three years

in prison. He'll get tortured in prison anyway because they don't like rapists. She's not my

type sir. You see my types in there skinny little that's just not me. TJ also pled guilty to attempted rape and was sentenced to an indefinite prison term of four to six years to be served consecutively rape and was sentenced to an indefinite prison term of four to six years to be served consecutively with his child endangering sentence. He is currently housed at Warren Correctional Institution in