Parents Arrested For Medical Neglect, Abuse Of 5-Year-Old Girl: Sarasota Police

SARASOTA, FL — Two parents were arrested after the Sarasota Police Department received an anonymous tip that their child was in danger, the agency said in a news release.

Crystal Kates, 37, and Torrance Boles, 50, are each facing one felony count of child neglect without great bodily harm.

Officers and the Florida Department of Children and Families responded to a home on 24th Street for a welfare check on their 5-year-old on Sept. 5 just after 1:30 p.m.

When they arrived, Kates and Boles were under a tent drinking beer, and the girl wasn’t with them, police said.

Inside the home, investigators found the child alone in a room with a baby gate blocking the bedroom door.

Her hair was matted with debris and food and she was wearing a heavily soiled pull-up diaper that was close to tearing from the weight, police said. The child was unable to speak.

Investigators reported finding dirty twin mattresses and a box spring on the floor with a partially torn, dirty sheet. There were no blankets or pillows and a dresser in the middle of the floor was empty. There weren’t any clothes in the closet.

Kates and Boles were drug tested at the home and tested positive for THC, cocaine and alcohol. The mother initially told investigators the home was in disarray because they had just moved in but later admitted they had lived there for 10 years.

DCF determined the conditions of the home and the child were severe enough to remove her and place her with a family member in Manatee County.

The child was evaluated at the Child Protection Center as an emergency case. Staff determined she was a victim of medical neglect and their findings were consistent with allegations of abuse.

On Sept. 11, Kates and Boles were arrested and booked into the Sarasota County Jail.

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A judge set Kates’ bond at $30,000 and ordered random drug and alcohol testing, no contact with the victim, and no contact with Boles, police said.

Boles’ bond was set at $40,000. He was ordered to undergo drug and alcohol testing twice a week and to have no contact with the victim or any other children.

Both remain in custody at the Sarasota County Jail. The case is under investigation by Sarasota police in coordination with the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Detective Angela Cox at 941-263-6075.