Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

Son of Brandy and Russell Jaynes

Content note: Case narratives include descriptions of severe violence inflicted on children, including abuse and neglect, sexual violence, torture, and murder, as well as mentions of suicide and domestic violence. They also include photos of victims and perpetrators of violence.


A 12-year-old boy was starved, imprisoned, and tortured by his mother, Brandy Kay Jaynes (pictured). The boy’s father, Russell Orin Jaynes, allegedly did not know about the abuse because he was not often at home and was barred by his wife from seeing the boy. The boy’s twin sister and a younger sibling attended school and were not reported to be abused. The boy was homeschooled.

The boy was pulled out of second grade to be homeschooled in 2012. Jaynes claimed this was due to the boy’s special needs, but state investigators dispute this claim, stating that “he had been caught stealing and was falling behind in classwork because of excessive absences.” Instead of receiving instruction at home, the boy was imprisoned and tortured for four to eight years. At first the boy was imprisoned in a bare bedroom and tortured by having ice water poured on him during the winter. Then he was imprisoned in a stand-up shower, and eventually in a tiny locked bathroom where the light switches and shower drain were covered with duct tape. Jaynes also kept a live video feed of the boy’s condition in the bathroom, where the only place not covered in feces was the place where he lay on a blanket. The boy only received “one meal of a couple of hot dogs every other day for months.” The boy weighed 30 pounds when he was rescued and had, as a result of the abuse, “emotional/developmental delays and the protracted loss of use of his limbs.”

The abuse came to light when the boy’s father “picked the lock on the bathroom door when his wife was gone” and discovered the boy’s condition. Russell Jaynes “drove around for hours, checking into a hotel and bathing his son, and then went to his father’s house in Cedar City asking what he should do before taking the boy to the hospital.” Brandy Jaynes was found guilty of child abuse and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Russell Jaynes was also charged with child abuse.

Date: January 8, 2017
Location:
Toquerville, Utah

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Documents: Date:
Police: 12-year-old boy locked in bathroom for at least a year 01-10-2017
Father of emaciated boy now faces child abuse charge 02-14-2017
Jaynes to enter plea in ‘egregious’ Toquerville child abuse case 07-11-2017
‘You did not act like a human’: Judge gives woman max sentence in child abuse case 08-28-2017
Utah woman gets prison for locking her 12-year-old, 30-pound son in a feces-covered bathroom 08-28-2017
Brandy Jaynes sentenced to up to 45 years in prison 08-28-2017
Brandy Jaynes sentenced to up to 45 years in prison for child abuse case 08-29-2017