On Thursday, January 11, 2018, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the physical abuse of a 13-year-old child in which it was alleged that the child had been kicked and hit by his step-father, Jason McGinley. The child victim arrived at school on Thursday with visible bruises on his face. The 13-year-old child and his 11-year-old sibling reside with their father Jason and Jestin McGinley in an RV on Chesney Lane in Sneads, Florida.
The physical abuse allegedly occurred due to the child having a verbal altercation with his bus driver. When the bus driver made the parents aware of the incident, Jason reportedly began to manhandle and slap the child. When Jason slapped the child he fell to the ground and both Jason and Jestin allegedly began violently kicking the child. The violent kicking of the child was caught on video by surrounding neighbors and the child was heard screaming as Jason and Jestin both grabbed the child and physically took him inside the RV. The child could still be heard screaming outside the RV and once he was taken inside his faint cries could still be heard.
The Sheriff’s Department said as the investigation continued it was learned that Jason and Jestin locked the children in their rooms at night by placing a metal expandable bar in the door. The bar was placed in the children’s bedroom door to keep them from “stealing” food during the night. The children reported they are mostly fed 1-2 sandwiches at night and spend a majority of their days hungry. The children were so hunger stricken that they advised school officials who provided the children with items from the Backpack for Kids program. Investigators learned that during the recent Christmas break the two children were only fed three meals a day once, otherwise only given sandwiches for supper for the remainder of the break.
It was further discovered that due to Jason and Jestin finding candy wrappers in the RV’s waste tank the children were no longer allowed to use the indoor restroom. Instead, they required to walk half a mile across a busy roadway to a boat landing to use a porta potty. The children were required to use the porta potty no matter the weather or time of day. Officials with the Sheriff’s Department said the path to the porta potty is not fully visible and when the children walked to use that facility they were not supervised and walked alone.
The children were sheltered by the Department of Children and Families and placed in a safe environment.
Jason McGinley and Jestin McGinley were both taken into custody on Friday, January 12, 2018, without incident and both are charged with aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment.