A West Virginia couple has been charged after police say they locked a 3-year-old child inside a bedroom, leading the child to climb out a second-story window and fall to the ground before wandering onto a busy road.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Fairmont Police Department, Victoria Frampton, 23, and Anthony Grogg, 22, placed a child lock on the inside of the bedroom door on Sept. 17 to “prevent [the child] from getting out.” Officers said the couple then left the toddler inside the room “for nearly two hours” without checking in.
Investigators noted that there was no child monitor in the room, and the child had no way to call for help. While alone, the child “became so distressed that she removed the mattress from the bed” before climbing out of a second-floor window, the complaint states, Clarksburg NBC affiliate WBOY reported.
Video evidence showed the toddler “dangling from the roof before falling to the ground,” a drop of roughly 10 feet. Officers said the child landed on a bed of gravel, rolled on the ground in apparent pain, and then wandered away. The 3-year-old eventually made her way to a “main road with heavy vehicle traffic” before being discovered by a passerby about 45 minutes after the fall.
Police said attempts to contact Frampton and Grogg were unsuccessful for nearly an hour. Officers ultimately had to climb through an open window to enter the residence. When finally confronted, the couple “were unaware” that the child was no longer in the room, according to investigators, Weston CBS affiliate WDTV reported.
Both Frampton and Grogg have been charged with child neglect, creating a risk of death. They are currently being held at the North Central Regional Jail. The case has raised alarm in the Fairmont community, with residents expressing shock that such a young child was left locked and unattended.
Authorities emphasized the serious risk to the child’s life, noting the combination of the fall and the extended time she spent wandering unsupervised near a busy road. The child’s current medical condition has not been released, but police confirmed the investigation remains active as prosecutors prepare to move forward with the charges.