DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A Georgia couple has been arrested for allegedly subjecting a 3-year-old child to weeks of neglect in a backyard shed, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sarah Elizabeth Pombert, 34, and Joseph Matthew Turner, 35, were arrested on June 2 after investigators uncovered that the child, identified as Bjorn Turner, had been kept in a shed behind their Douglasville home from May 1 to May 22.
According to the arrest warrant obtained by ABC News, the shed was described as a filthy structure lacking basic necessities like running water and electricity. The child was reportedly left unsupervised, unclothed, and unbathed — a situation described in the warrant as “criminal negligence.”
Both Pombert and Turner have been charged with second-degree child cruelty and are being held in the Douglas County Jail. As of Friday, neither had a defense attorney listed in court records.
A neighbor, Matthew Govoni, told WSB-TV that the shed burned down over Memorial Day weekend. He expressed concern for the child, stating, “I’m saddened for them and the child… I hope they can get to a place where they can be helped.”
Authorities have not yet disclosed how the child’s situation came to light, and the Douglas County Fire Department has not commented on the reported shed fire.