Utah couple arrested, accused of chaining autistic daughter to bed

PROVO, Utah (KSL.com) — A Provo, Utah couple has been arrested and accused of chaining their autistic daughter to a bed for several hours each day.

Benjamin Ammon Sorensen, 45, and Emily Sorensen, 40, were each booked into the Utah County Jail on Tuesday for investigation of abuse or neglect of a child with a disability.

On Tuesday, Provo police were called to meet with case workers from the Division of Child and Family Services regarding the Sorensens, who had “chained their 8-year-old autistic daughter to a bed,” according to a police booking affidavit.

Police learned that case workers had previously received a report of the daughter being “chained up” and that the parents “had signed agreements … not to do that anymore,” the affidavit alleges.

But when an officer arrived at the Sorensen home, “I observed the victim on the top bunk of the bunk bed in the living room with a chain around her ankle. I told Benjamin to unchain her, and he initially rebutted but then pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the padlock,” the affidavit states.

When questioned, Benjamin Sorensen stated that “every night for the last three months, approximately, he would chain (his daughter) to the bed by the ankle from the approximate hours of 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. He also stated that sometimes when both he and Emily are gone he would leave (the daughter) chained to the bed but would leave a key with their 13-year-old daughter. During these times (the daughter) is mostly left unsupervised while chained,” according to the affidavit.

Both children were taken into state protective custody.