Inside the Ferriter Child Abuse Conviction: Key Facts and Insights
Spencer Kuvin’s WPBF Interview with Taylor Hernandez
It’s well documented that when the local media needs expert legal commentary for a story they are doing, they reach out to the expert attorneys at GOLDLAW.
This was the case once against last week, after a Palm Beach County jury reached a verdict in a heavily publicized child abuse case in Jupiter. In a trial that started on October 3, Timothy Ferriter faced a charge of child abuse, for confining one of his four children in a box-like structure in the garage of their home. His wife, Tracy, also faces the same charges, including false imprisonment and child neglect, but will be tried separately at a later date.
The child in question, a teen with a history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a condition known as reactive attachment disorder, which keeps children from forming bonds with family members, was confined to the structure for multiple hours a day, according to witnesses.
Witnesses also testified that the teen was subjected to “humiliating, isolating, and cruel” punishments.
On October 12, the jury found Timothy Ferriter guilty of aggravated child abuse, neglect and false imprisonment. Following the verdict, WPBF Channel 25 reached out to GOLDLAW’s Chief Legal Officer, Spencer Kuvin, to comment on the case, due to his extensive experience representing victims of abuse, including young women who were victims of Jeffry Epstein and Bill Cosby. With respect to the verdict, Kuvin said he was not surprised.
“The only argument that was presented, (by the defense), was that the child was somehow in some type of danger to himself or others. The problem with that defense, and I think the jurors eventually saw, was if that was the case, then the parents needed to reach out.”
Tracy Ferriter is facing the same charges as her now-convicted husband.
Kuvin said if she was his client, he would suggest exploring a plea deal, and thinks her defense may come down to blaming her husband.
“What I would try to focus on is that all the decisions that were made regarding the child’s care were made by the child’s father and that she had no say in the matter and she had no control in any of the decisions made by the father.”
Timothy Ferriter will be sentenced in November. A date for Tracy Ferriter’s trial has yet to be set.
