A Reston woman is charged after a 9-year-old boy in her care told police he was locked in a room, forced to go to the bathroom in a bottle and repeatedly beaten. Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey reports.
A 9-year-old boy told police he was locked in a room, forced to urinate in a bottle and repeatedly beaten in a Reston, Virginia, apartment by a woman who was supposed to be caring for him, court documents say.
The victim was in the care of Shanoa Camp while his father was in prison. Camp has been charged with child abuse.
According to court documents, the boy told a detective assigned to the case, “Camp made (the) victim stay in his bedroom ‘all day, everyday’ & directed him to lock the door.”
“Camp made him urinate into bottles … and sleep on the floor on a blue mat,” court documents say.
“Camp would punish him a lot by hitting him with cords, a metal stick ripped from a shoe rack & ‘every kind of bad thing.’”
An anonymous call to the Department of Family Services prompted the investigation in mid-August.
Camp turned the boy over to Family Services later that month, according to court documents.
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During forensic interviews, the boy described the alleged beatings in greater detail, and investigators documented his injuries, described as disfiguring scars.
“Apparent scars are visible on his upper body … many of the scars share a similar U-shaped pattern, indicating a similar instrument used to inflict multiple injuries,” the documents say.
“Photos of the victim’s legs depict two parallel red apparent scars on the back of his left leg … and above his knee.”
Police seized 13 metal sticks from a shoe rack and a blue mat matching what the boy described from the apartment, the search warrant says.
Camp’s romantic partner and that woman’s two daughters also lived in the Reston apartment, Fairfax County investigators said.
Camp’s partner is not charged in connection with the alleged crimes, but investigators say the boy told them the roommate witnessed the beatings.
“I do not want to speak right now,” she told News4 Wednesday.
The apartment is associated with a program called Shelter House that provides housing for families dealing with homelessness. Social workers make visits to check on clients. Several of them met with Camp’s roommate Wednesday.
The executive director of Shelter House tells News4, while it’s employees visit clients’ apartments, they do not do room inspections. Joe Meyer says Shelter House staff was not made aware that the roommate was caring for the boy until after Fairfax County police began investigating the case.
Camp is out of jail on bond and due back in court in November. News4 tried to reach her Wednesday but could not.
The boy is living with a relative.
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