How Could You? Hall of Shame-Laura Cheatham and Daryl Head UPDATED
This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.
From Farmington, Missouri, “a man and woman have been arrested after her four adopted children were found barricaded in boxes held together by plywood and screws. 
Laura Cheatham and Daryl Head, both 38, were arrested on Tuesday after an anonymous caller contacted authorities to report the alleged abuse.
Police went to Cheatham’s home in Farmington, Missouri, and were at first refused entry by Head.
When they forced their way inside, Cheatham, who adopted the three girls and one boy with her ex-husband Richard, was trying to remove the plywood that had been screwed on to the top of the boxes to free the children, according to charging documents.
The boxes had been ‘specially constructed’ by the pair and had no windows, light or plumbing.
The children resorted to going to the bathroom in vents in the floor, according to authorities.
Neighbors have since told police that they regularly saw the children doing manual labor, including sawing plywood they believe was later used to keep them captive in the boxes.
Police were horrified by the conditions the children were being subjected to.
Despite the conditions inside, the children were considered to be in good health. They are only thought to have lived there for a few weeks.
‘I’ve seen some pretty nasty things, but nothing this deplorable,’ St Francois Sheriff Daniel Bullock told KMOV.
Cheatham and Head were both charged with four counts of second-degree kidnapping and endangering a child.
Their bond was set at $2million each. The children have been placed in government care.”
[Daily Mail 8/8/18 by Jennifer Smith]
“Laura Cheatham, 38, and Daryl Head, 38, both of Farmington, are being charged with four class D felonies of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree and four class D felonies of kidnapping in the second degree.”
“According to the deputy, the children’s service worker told him there were allegations from a hotline call that there were children being confined in a room with plywood and screws. Homeowner and suspect, Head, walked from behind the home to meet with the deputy and the Children’s Division worker.
The deputy explained the allegations to Head and told that because of the demanding circumstances he would have to go inside the home. The deputy reported that after some hesitation Head opened the door.
When the deputy looked inside the home he saw Cheatham unscrewing plywood from small rooms and children coming out from behind the plywood. One of the Children’s Division workers recorded Cheatham on her phone unscrewing several screws in order to release a boy, who was approximately 6 years old.
The deputy reported that there were no windows or lights in the room and vent in the floor had the odor of urine. A press release stated investigators found that the children were being confined in an area on the main floor of the home wherein two bedrooms had been modified into four smaller rooms that were described as being, “smaller than a jail cell,” with no lighting, and no access to water or toilet facilities.”
[Daily Journal Online 8/7/18 by RENEE BRONAUGH]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “A woman who allegedly kept her four adopted children locked inside makeshift cells at her home had miniature prison uniforms made for them, police say.
Laura Cheatham was arrested in Missouri on Tuesday alongside Daryl Head after officers found the children, aged five to 12, inside the cells which were sealed with plywood and screws.
Now investigators have revealed that Cheatham, who is a former Missouri Department of Corrections worker, even had prison uniforms made for the kids.
Cheatham ordered the uniforms from the Prison Industries Clothing Division in January, months before she adopted the youngster, the St Louis Post-Dispatch says.
When the inmate in charge of the division questioned what Cheatham wanted them for, she replied ‘they’re for my kids’, officers said.
The children are only thought to have lived with Cheatham for a few weeks before they were found on Tuesday, after being adopted by her and her estranged husband Richard, who no longer lives at the home.
Officers were called to the property this week and were refused entry by Head.
When police forced their way inside, Cheatham, was trying to remove plywood that had been screwed on to the top of the boxes to free the children, according to charging documents.
It is not clear if Cheatham and Head are a couple and he is not thought to live there.
Police say two of the children are related to each-other, but none of them are related to Cheatham, her ex-husband, or Head.
The boxes had been ‘specially constructed’ by the pair and had no windows, light or plumbing.
The children resorted to going to the bathroom in vents in the floor, according to authorities.
Neighbors have since told police that they regularly saw the children doing manual labor, including sawing plywood they believe was later used to keep them captive.
Police were horrified by the conditions the children were being subjected to but despite that, the children found to be in good health.
‘I’ve seen some pretty nasty things, but nothing this deplorable,’ St Francois Sheriff Daniel Bullock told KMOV.
Cheatham and Head were both charged with four counts of second-degree kidnapping and endangering a child.
Their bond was set at $2million each. The children have been placed in government care.”
[Daily Mail 8/9/18 by Chris Pleasance and Jennifer Smith]
Update 2:“New jury trial dates were set on Wednesday for two St. Francois County residents involved in a high-profile case of alleged child abuse filed in August 2018.
Laura Cheatham, 41, and Daryl Head, 40, both of Farmington, are charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child – creating substantial risk and four counts of second-degree kidnapping after allegedly locking and keeping four adopted children in small, windowless, plywood compartments.
A three-day jury trial was previously set to begin on Monday, but during a hearing on May 21, Attorney T.J. Hunsaker, who is representing both Cheatham and Head, made an oral motion for a continuance of the trial, which was sustained over objections from the prosecution. Circuit Court Judge Wendy Wexler Horn reset the case for a jury trial to begin on March 22, 2022.
The two accused defendants did not appear in court on Wednesday as the trial was rescheduled in the case.
Before the rescheduled jury trial dates, an announcement hearing is scheduled to be held on March 2, 2022, where the defendants will have the opportunity to enter a plea or proceed with the scheduled trial.
According to official statements and reports, on Aug. 7, 2018, a deputy with the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department was called to the 100 block of Meadowbrook Road to assist the Missouri Children’s Division with a hotline call involving four children who were allegedly being held in what was described as “deplorable conditions” in a boarded-up room in the home.
When investigators arrived, Head walked from behind the home to meet with the deputy and the Children’s Division worker. The deputy explained the allegations to Head and said that because of the circumstances, he would have to go inside the home. The deputy reported that after some hesitation, Head opened the door.
Cheatham was reportedly seen through the open door unscrewing plywood from small rooms and children coming out from behind the plywood. It was reported there were no windows or lights in the room and a vent on the floor had the odor of urine.
A press release stated investigators found the children were being confined in an area on the main floor of the home wherein two bedrooms had been modified into four smaller rooms that were described as being, “smaller than a jail cell,” with no lighting, and no access to water or toilet facilities.
Three juvenile girls and one boy were placed in the Children’s Division custody while Head and Cheatham were placed under arrest. The children were interviewed extensively and were placed in the system.
The children were not biological children of the couple but were adopted by Cheatham and her estranged husband at one point. The children appeared to be in relatively good health, and investigators said it was unclear how long the children had been held in the room.
After the charges were filed, St. Francois County Sheriff Dan Bullock said Cheatham was employed by the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) and had since resigned. He added she had children’s prison uniforms made that she ordered through Prison Industries Clothing Division.
It was reported that she signed off on work for them and told the inmate in charge of the clothing division they were for her kids. The orders were placed in January 2018. The child-sized uniforms and the patterns to make them have been collected as evidence in the pending case.
The DOC contacted the sheriff’s department after they saw the news the evening of Aug. 7, 2018, and they shared that information with them.
“Why would you order prison uniforms?” Bullock said at the time. “Her boyfriend, Head, had worked at the BJC Behavioral Health as a counselor at some point. From what I understand, he was a counselor to those kids and then they ended up together.”
During a press conference on Aug. 7, 2018, Bullock said he had seen some pretty nasty things in all his time, but nothing this deplorable here in St. Francois County.
“Myself and the prosecutor have talked about this, and we have seen a lot of different things over the years, but this is the kind of thing that happens somewhere else, not here,” Bullock said.
Bond was initially set at $500,000 for both defendants but was lowered to $250,000 cash or surety on Sept. 4, 2018. Both Cheatham and Head have since posted bonds and were released in September 2018.
The two defendants were also ordered to have no contact with children while released on bond, but after a motion to amend bond conditions was sustained on Aug. 7, 2019, the court ordered the defendants may have contact with children as permitted by the Juvenile Court.”
New trial dates set in child abuse case
[Daily Journal Online 6/9/21 by Bobby Radford]
We’re these two married ? How were they able to adopt 4 children ? What type of employment do they have ? Who did they adopt these children from, the state, a private agency ?? Has anyone checked to see if they have connections to human trafficking ?
These stories should be front page news and reported on every news report nonstop. Like they reported on a hooker the president slept with almost a decade ago !! The fact that it is not, is proof
of how low down this country has gone !!
Heartbreaking !
No they were not married. Laura was divorced from the man that she adopted the children with.I don’t know where they adopted the kids from and I do not know if they have connections to human trafficking.
This woman commissioned PRISON UNIFORMS for her kids while in the process of adopting the youngest? *shudders*
Well, that’s going to make it hard for Laura to play the “RAD made us do it” card, but if she does, I’m sure if she’ll be to find a self-proclaimed RAD expert to claim that the victims made her force them build a plywood prison cell and seal them inside. /sarc
As someone with personal knowledge of this case, the woman had finalized the adoption of all of the children sevral years prior to this. She began having an affair with the male defendent and kicked her husband out and moved the POS boyfriend in 2 days later. The confinement actually started months earlier when she refused to allow her ex to see the children. The two perpetrators, made the kids cuss the father and tell him they didn’t want to see him and accuse him of abuse.
All four kids are now with the adoptive father and are working through what was done to them. It is a difficult battle for all involved. She is no longer allowed any contact with them. It has been over 4 years and they still haven’t gone to trial. She’s had 4 years of freedome, while the children will have a lifetime of issues because of EVERYTHING those two did and people don’t know the half of it.