A couple accused of holding a 13-year-old boy against his will in their Jonesboro home remain in jail and have been assigned a public defender.
Gregory Jean Sr. and Samantha Davis have been charged with imprisonment and child cruelty in connection with a 13-year-old boy found in a dark crawlspace frightened and bleeding at the home over the Thanksgiving weekend. The boy is Jean’s son. Jean and Davis repeatedly told police when they were dispatched to the house on a child welfare check that they did not know the boy nor was he at the house.
The boy’s mother,who lives in Florida, called Clayton police to tell them her son was in danger. The call has touched off a bizarre chain of events and lots of unanswered questions in the last week. The boy has since returned to Orlando with his mother, Lisa Smith. Smith told Clayton police that she had reported the boy missing to child services officials four years ago when Jean did not return the boy after he went to visit his father. But Clayton Police Chief Greg Porter said there is no firm evidence that the boy was ever reported missing. Documents in Fulton County Superior Court also show that Jean had sole custody of the boy.
Efforts to reach Smith have been unsuccessful. Clayton Public Defender Christine Van Dross was unavailable for comment early Thursday afternoon.
