Two hungry teenagers arrived at an adult guardian’s home asking for food. What they later described about life in a nearby chicken pen has now filled pages of Missouri court records.
Allegations In A Rural Missouri Home
Prosecutors in Washington County, Missouri, have charged two adults after investigators said a long pattern of abuse emerged involving two children, ages 13 and 14, living near Potosi.
According to a report by Fox News Digital, which cites a probable cause statement and warrant application filed in Washington County, Chantel Spring Hayford, 38, and Jerry Allen Menees were arrested in mid January 2026.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office told Fox News Digital that its investigation began after Missouri’s Division of Family Services alerted deputies to suspected abuse and neglect involving the two teenagers. That referral led to a search warrant at the home and to the arrests.
Court documents, as described in the Fox News report, outline a series of allegations that have not yet been tested at trial. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court.
Inside The Alleged Chicken Pen Incident
In the charging records summarized by Fox News Digital, investigators wrote that the teens told authorities they were locked inside a chicken pen that had been fastened shut.
While inside that pen, the children said they were shot at with BB guns during at least one incident. The filings further state that the teens reported being threatened with real firearms, including a handgun, and warned they would be shot if they told anyone about the abuse.
The probable cause statement, as quoted by Fox News Digital, also describes what investigators called an organized pattern of violence. They said the teens were subjected to repeated physical assaults, intimidation, and what were referred to as organized fight nights
, during which the children were allegedly forced to fight one another.
Couple in Missouri accused of child abuse; locking teens in chicken pen, holding children ‘fight nights’ https://t.co/GoYd01wtNy pic.twitter.com/dBNGg8Iri3
— WIFR (@WIFRTV) January 17, 2026
Those specific descriptions come from law enforcement summaries of interviews, not from trial testimony. Defense attorneys have not yet had the opportunity to challenge them in open court based on the information currently available.
From A Knock On The Door To Felony Charges
The allegations that now appear in the court record began, investigators said, when the two youths arrived at the home of an adult guardian asking for food. According to the probable cause statement recounted by Fox News Digital, the guardian later told authorities that the children appeared severely underweight and had not been enrolled in school.
Medical providers who evaluated the teens later determined that they could not read or write, the records state. Those observations are part of what investigators cited as evidence of neglect.
The same guardian told investigators that the children’s mother agreed to transfer custody of them in exchange for a cellphone and a phone plan. Authorities said that the arrangement was documented through a power of attorney, according to the Fox News report. Investigators wrote that this alleged exchange helped form the basis for trafficking related counts.
Missouri law defines and penalizes child abuse and neglect in a series of statutes that classify more serious conduct as felony offenses. The Missouri Revised Statutes provide that crimes such as first-degree kidnapping, abuse or neglect of a child, and certain forms of child endangerment can carry long prison sentences depending on the circumstances and prior record of the accused, according to the state’s online code of laws (Missouri Revised Statutes).
The Specific Counts Filed
Fox News Digital reports that Menees faces multiple felony counts. According to that outlet’s summary of court filings, prosecutors charged him with:
Item 1: Two counts of first-degree kidnapping.
Item 2: Two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Item 3: Armed criminal action.
Item 4: Two counts of abuse or neglect of a child.
Item 5: One count of unlawful use of a weapon.
Item 6: Three counts of first-degree domestic assault.Hayford faces a separate but overlapping set of counts. According to the same report, she is charged with:
Item 1: Two counts of first-degree kidnapping.
Item 2: One count of first-degree sexual abuse.
Item 3: Three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Item 4: Four counts of abuse or neglect of a child.
Item 5: Two counts of first-degree domestic assault.Both are being held without bond, Fox News Digital reported, citing court records. The case had not yet gone to trial in the publicly available accounts at the time of this writing, and no plea has been reported.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office credited the local Child Advocacy Center and the Washington County Division of Family Services for assistance in the investigation, according to the Fox News report. Those agencies often coordinate forensic interviews, medical exams, and safety planning in child abuse cases.
Context On Reporting And Oversight
Missouri’s child protection system relies on reports from people who see or suspect possible abuse. The state’s Children’s Division operates a hotline and works with local law enforcement to investigate allegations, remove children from unsafe situations, and provide services, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division overview.
In this Washington County case, the sheriff’s office said the Division of Family Services made the initial referral that led to a criminal investigation. The available reporting does not describe what contact, if any, state agencies had with the family before the teens appeared at the guardian’s door, how long the alleged abuse had been occurring, or whether prior reports had been filed.
Those gaps matter because the probable cause statement, as summarized by Fox News Digital, describes a period of alleged repeated physical violence, intimidation, and educational neglect that could have taken place over months or longer. At the same time, the public record currently described in news coverage does not yet outline a complete timeline of agency involvement.
What Remains Unresolved
As of the information provided in the Fox News Digital report, trial dates, plea negotiations, and potential additional charges have not been publicly detailed. The sheriff’s office said its investigation remains active.
Key questions are left open by the available documents described in the report. Among them are how long the teens were out of school, what oversight structures were in place for the household, and whether any earlier concerns about the family ever reached authorities before the Division of Family Services alert that triggered this investigation.
For now, the public record consists of charging documents and law enforcement narratives that present only one side of the case. How those allegations will stand up under cross-examination and what explanation the defense will offer for life inside that small town home remains to be seen in a Washington County courtroom.
