John Land, 57, and his wife, Janice Land, 59, of Montgomery County, Maryland, have been charged with abusing their 22-year-old sons who have autism. They reportedly locked their autistic twins in the basement of their home, nightly, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The offensive, urine-soaked room was “not fit for animals,” according to court documents. The men can’t speak and have been subjected to this maltreatment for the past six years.
If the police hadn’t gone to the house to serve a search warrant for an unrelated matter, no one would have known the men were forced to spend their nights in the dark, padlocked room, sleeping on a comforter that lay across a tile floor. They also were kept company by cockroaches that roamed the floor and ceiling.
The Lands were arrested, charged with two counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult and two counts of false imprisonment, and released on bond. They claim they locked their sons in the basement to keep them from leaving the home unaccompanied. They also claim their sons have been violent in the past. A neighbor claims she reported this abuse three years ago.
The twins have been removed from the home for evaluation.
