Florida couple charged with abusing four children held in tractor-trailer sleeper cab for six years

A couple has been accused of abusing four children in their care and holding them in the cab of a tractor-trailer, described by prosecutors as a “rolling prison,” for six years

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced charges against Keysha Monique Epps, a 51-year-old woman from Atlanta, and Tamra Marshon Stewart, a 37-year-old man from Jacksonville, Tuesday.

Epps, a truck driver, and Stewart hauled the two boys and two girls in the sleeper cab of her tractor-trailer as she ran routes from Atlanta to Miami from January 2020 until last April, according to prosecutors. Epps is the children's grandmother, who now range in age from 11 to 15, and Stewart is her fiancé, according to The New York Times.

The children were forced to share a single bunk and were denied the food, hygiene, education and medical care they needed, prosecutors allege.

“These children were trapped in a rolling prison and abused by the adults who were supposed to protect them,” Uthmeier said in a statement. “Florida has zero tolerance for anyone who preys on children. We will seek the maximum punishment under the law.”

Uthmeier’s office said two of the children had untreated burns that left them badly scarred.

One of them had burned her hand on hot noodles and was not taken to the hospital, an arrest warrant obtained by the Times said. The children were also burned as a form of discipline, Jae Williams, a spokesman for Uthmeier’s office, told the publication.

The two girls told authorities that they suffered years of sexual abuse by Stewart. The two boys said they witnessed the abuse and were beaten when they confronted Stewart and told Epps.

Authorities alleged Epps knew of the abuse and did not stop it or report it. One of the children was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection, according to Uthmeier’s office.

Prosecutors said Stewart admitted to three sexual batteries against one of the girls when interviewed by authorities.

Epps told authorities that she asked the girls if Stewart had touched them and they said no, the Times reported. She also reportedly said she limited the children’s food when they were in trouble but still provided three meals a day, according to the warrant.

Stewart and Epps were each charged with two counts of sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority and two counts of child neglect causing permanent disfigurement, among other charges.