PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Delaware County couple is accused of withholding food and physically assaulting a 20-year-old with Down syndrome in their care. They are now charged with neglect and abuse.
The investigation started on April 25 when Colwyn Borough police were called by an unidentified person about a juvenile who had been crying on the front steps of a home in the rain and 40-degree temperatures for about four hours.
When police arrived, they said they found the woman was not a juvenile, but a 20-year-old with Down syndrome. She was soaked from head to toe, holding a trash bag of clothes, and in distress.
According to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, EMS determined the woman was suffering from injuries to her right eye, other marks on her body, and malnourishment.
Officials said the woman was in the care of 31-year-old Yahnae Clegg-Brown and 35-year-old Naiyr “Hasan” Sanders. Investigators determined the woman was repeatedly denied food, physically assaulted, and forced to live in a room with no sheets, blankets or pillows and a deteriorating mattress.
They said there is video from the home of Sanders pushing the woman down concrete steps and slamming the door in her face, and another that shows Sanders punching her in the head.
Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse called the alleged systemic abuse “beyond comprehension,” adding it’s “heartbreaking to see a vulnerable member of the community suffer what’s described in the case.”
Clegg-Brown and Sanders are both charged with neglect and abuse of a care-dependent person. They are both in Delaware County prison, unable to post 10% of $250,000.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month.
Investigators say the 20-year-old was forced to live in a room with no blankets and a deteriorating mattress
Investigators say the 20-year-old was forced to live in a room with no blankets and a deteriorating mattress
