Years into investigation of Margate girl’s abuse, fifth adult to face charges
A fifth person accused in the years-long abuse of a girl in Margate turned herself into jail Wednesday to face charges stemming from the investigation that began two years ago, police said.
The abuse came to light in 2023 after the girl messaged her online teacher asking for help because one of her legal guardians punched her in the head, according to a probable cause affidavit. The investigation that ensued found the girl had endured horrific “forms of punishment” for years, leading to the arrest of her two legal guardians, who are her family members, and three other women who allegedly participated in or knew of the abuse of that began when the girl was age 11 in 2019.
Those facing charges are: Latricia Crawley, 49; Benjamin Lockett, 46; Shankyria Clayton, 23; Treaunshae Gibbons, 32; and, as of this week, Denaria Graham, 24.
An amended charging document filed by the State Attorney’s Office earlier this year said the girl had been tortured, punished, caged and battered between 2019 and October 2023. She had been locked inside of closets and tied to furniture; hit with belts, extension cords and metal pipes; and bound with zip ties or rope on her hands and feet.
When police were called to the Margate home in October 2023, they found the girl had “evidence of significant long-term trauma” on her body, according to the probable cause affidavit for Crawley’s arrest. The girl told officers that, over the 10 years she lived with Crawley and Lockett, she would be locked inside of a closet, where she slept and was given a bucket to use as a toilet.
Crawley also allegedly tied the girl to a pole and hit her toes with a hammer, threw boiling water on her, held her head under water, forced her to stand for extended periods of time by tying her hair to a clothing rack, pierced her back with a staple gun, among other forms of punishment, according to the state’s charging document.
Crawley has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect.
Lockett, who is Crawley’s husband, has been accused of kicking the girl in her chin, leaving a permanent scar; hitting and punching her; and placing his hands around her neck, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated child abuse, child abuse and child neglect.
Clayton allegedly participated in locking the girl inside of closets in the home without access to food and water and in neglecting the girl, the charging document showed. While living in the same house as the girl, Clayton never reported the abuse to the Department of Children and Families, which is required by state law.
Clayton has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated child abuse, child neglect and failure to report child abuse.
Gibbons, whose mother is Crawley, also lived at the home between 2015 and 2019 while the girl was being abused, a probable cause affidavit for her arrest said. She worked for Kids in Distress beginning in November 2020 — a nonprofit based in Wilton Manors that aims to prevent child abuse and provides services for victims of abuse and families.
She noted in her job application for the nonprofit that she had over a year of experience as a case manager for Children’s Home Society and ChildNet, the lead child welfare agency in Broward and Palm Beach County, according to the affidavit. Gibbons was fired from the organization for violating policy related to reporting abuse, the South Florida Sun Sentinel previously reported.
She has pleaded not guilty to one count of failure to report child abuse.
Graham is accused of participating in locking the girl in the closet and in neglecting her, the charging document showed. She also lived in the home and knew or suspected the girl was being abused but failed to report it.
She was held in the North Broward Bureau as of Friday on charges of aggravated child abuse, child neglect and failure to report child abuse. A Margate Police spokesperson said in an email that she turned herself in to the jail on Wednesday.
Graham’s arraignment is scheduled for Monday. She has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
All of the defendants will be tried together, court records show.
The alleged victim, then age 17, filed a lawsuit last year against Childnet, alleging the agency put her in an abusive home without properly vetting the guardians.
The lawsuit, in part, identifies two members of Crawley’s family as people who allegedly sexually abused her, though neither has been criminally charged, the Sun Sentinel previously reported. One is a man who is a registered sex offender and who lived in the home with the girl.
Childnet in its response to the lawsuit denied all allegations and said, in part, that the agency could not be held liable for the actions of her legal guardians.
Co-defendant in the lawsuit are the Partnership for Community Health, The Children’s Place at Home Safe, Inc. and the Broward Sheriff’s Office, court records show.
Attorneys representing the Sheriff’s Office in its response to the lawsuit denied all allegations of negligence against the agency and said, in part, that the agency enjoys sovereign immunity and is immune from the lawsuit.
The Children’s Place at Home Safe, Inc. denied all allegations and argued as a defense, in part, that the organization is not liable for any alleged damages that resulted from other parties and that any damages arose from the girl’s “own negligence and/or actions,” according to their response to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Partnership for Community Health in their response denied all allegations and, in part, argued that the girl was responsible for any injuries and damages through her own “negligence and carelessness.” The girl had run away from a group home run by the company for children in the foster system and “willing exposed herself to potential and actual harm,” the response said.
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