South Carolina Parents Force Daughter To Live In The Woods Because She Ate A Pop-Tart


South Carolina parents James and Crystal Driggers, forced their daughter to live in the woods because they caught her eating an “unauthorized” Pop-Tart. Crystal and James Driggers were arrested after police discovered the 14-year-old girl was sent to live in a tent in the woods for a week.

Sumter County Sheriff’s Office officials said that James Driggers, 33, and Crystal Driggers, 36, denied their daughter entry into the home for two days, and told her to go back to the woods and stay there for a week. The South Carolina parents reportedly set up a tent for their daughter in an area where wild boar are known to frequent. The girl was only given a watch, flashlight, and a roll of toilet paper before being ushered off into the forest, according to police reports.

james driggers
Crystal Driggers and James Driggers arrested for allegedly forcing daughter to live in the woods.

The Driggers’ allegedly told their daughter that “someone” would meet her at a spot along the property fence at specific times during the day. If the teen girl wanted any food to eat, she was told be show up for the meeting. According to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, one afternoon, a sibling brought the girl a plastic spoon and a can of Spaghetti-Os to eat.

Severe thunderstorms hit the area during her night in the woods. When the teen’s grandmother found out that the girl was out in the woods during the storm, she called the police. While waiting for the authorities to arrive, the grandmother ventured out into the heavy rain to find the girl.

The South Carolina law enforcement officers took the girl home and talked to her parents. After the deputies left, the girl was reportedly sent back out to the tent in the woods. It was not until a follow-up visit on Friday afternoon that the officers discovered that the girl was still out in the woods, about a quarter-mile from the home.

Police investigators discovered that the teen girl was sent from the home each day at 8 a.m. and not allowed to return home until 6 p.m. throughout last month. During that same time period, the temperatures regularly hit at least 100 degrees during the afternoon hours.

“She couldn’t return for any reason,” police spokesman Braden Bunch said. “Not to get a drink, not to use the bathroom, nothing. We feel very confident that the parents were overstepping their bounds. From trying to correct a child’s behavior to true criminal punishment.”

The Driggers’ family includes five children in addition to the daughter sent to woods because she ate a Pop-Tart without permission. All of the teen’s siblings have reportedly been placed in the custody of grandparents. The 14-year-old girl is currently in the custody of the state.

Both Crystal and James Driggers have been charged with child neglect. Sumter County police officials have noted that additional child abuse-related charges might be filed against the South Carolina parents accused of forcing their daughter to live in the woods because she ate a Pop-Tart.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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