Adoptive Texas Mother Locked Seven Special Needs Teenagers in a Closet

These kids were treated like a bad dog. Leaving the house, lock them in a closet.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services got in contact with the Houston Sheriff's Department to arrest Paula Sinclair. She was taking care of seven teenagers, all who had special needs. The teens, ages 13 to 16, were removed Nov. 23 but the Fort Bend County sheriff's office didn't publicize the case until Monday.

Caitilin Espinosa, a sheriff's spokeswoman, said the investigation was delayed by confusing circumstances and also because the two people arrested in the matter have not cooperated with authorities. A child protective services worker went to the home on November 22. What they found that day was so shocking that they got a court order for the teens to be removed the next day.

The teens had been locked in a single room. When Sinclair was at the home and needed to leave, all seven children regularly were placed in a 5-by-8-foot closet. They were struck with a wooden paddle if they attempted to leave the closet or room. With the kids being locked up, sometimes they had to go to the bathroom.

They were forced to urinate on themselves or go in the corner of the closet. The closet was covered in human waste, some placed in bags scattered around. The kids were taken to the hospital for treatment, once released they will go into state custody. The state believes Sinclair was using the kids for money. If you adopt a special needs child, you can receive up to $540 a month.

Paula Sinclair was charged with injury to a child and aggravated kidnapping and she is being held on a $100,000 bond.

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