Gloucester Township girl was confined to dog crate as part of yearslong abuse at her mother’s home, authorities say

A Gloucester Township man and woman have been charged with confining and abusing a teenage girl in their home for years, including forcing her to live inside a dog crate and a bare, padlocked room.

Brenda Spencer, 38, and Branndon Mosley, 41, were charged Sunday with kidnapping, assault, neglect and abuse of Spencer’s daughter, according to the Camden County District Attorney’s Office. Mosley, who worked for SEPTA as a rail engineer, was also charged with sexual assault.

The victim, who is now 18 and was not otherwise identified, escaped from the home last week with the help of a neighbor. In 2018, after she completed sixth grade, Spencer had her removed from school and began confining her at home, prosecutors said.

The girl was first forced to live inside a dog crate for about a year with her hands bound behind her back, and was allowed to leave only periodically, prosecutors said. Then, she was moved to a padlocked bathroom where she was chained and allowed to leave only when family visited.

“What this young woman survived was absolutely horrific,” Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay said at a news conference Wednesday. “Heinous, yearslong torture.”

The victim told prosecutors that at other times, she was confined to a room that was bare, aside from a bucket to use for a toilet, and an alarm system that would alert the couple if she tried to escape. According to a police affidavit, the victim was beaten with objects including a belt and a horse whip. She also reported that Mosley sexually abused her. Once, Mosley brought the victim food while she was chained and gave it to her only after she performed a sexual act on him, she said.

SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said Mosley has been held off work since Sunday, pending a separate SEPTA administrative investigation. The move is standard operating procedure and ensures the individual does not set foot on SEPTA property while the review takes place. Spencer is not employed.

Rose Mosley, Branndon Mosley’s mother, learned of the charges against her son from a reporter. She said her son had been in a relationship with Spencer for more than 10 years.

“She’s always been a troublemaker,” Rose Mosley said of Spencer, declining to comment further before talking to prosecutors.

After the girl escaped and reported the abuse, detectives searched the home and discovered filthy conditions and numerous dogs, chinchillas, and other animals. The victim’s 13-year-old sister was also living in the home, but it is unclear whether she suffered the same abuse. Both girls were allegedly being homeschooled by Spencer and Mosley.

Residents of Ridge Avenue in Blackwood say Spencer and Mosley’s home stood out as abnormally quiet even in what they call a “mind your business” type of neighborhood.

“You just didn’t see the kids,” said one neighbor who asked not to be named should Spencer and Mosley return. She said the older child in the home would help the adults bring groceries in from the car and would sometimes do yardwork with Mosley at the front of the home and wave. The house itself did not prompt skepticism, with its well-manicured front lawn and Dallas Cowboys-themed mailbox

The inhabitants seemed intent on privacy, said the neighbor, who took notice of their blackout curtains. The younger child, however, was rarely seen, she said.

“This was a very quiet, quiet house,” the neighbor said. “You’d never see anybody there ever at all, no visitors, no nothing.”

MacAulay lamented New Jersey’s laws on homeschooling at the news conference, and suggested they can allow for abuse to stay hidden. She said that in New Jersey, parents or guardians are required only to notify their local school board that they plan to homeschool their children, but those children are not required to take tests or otherwise demonstrate proof that they are being adequately educated at home, or show other markers of well-being.

“This case proves there’s a need to revamp and revisit those laws,” she said.

Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins said at the news conference that the victim attended school in the Gloucester Township Public School District. He said the district is cooperating with the investigation, but officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.