Teen found 'chained to bed' in Western Sydney family home
A teenage boy who is believed to have autism has been taken to hospital after being allegedly chained to a bed by his mother and left alone at his Western Sydney home.
Police were called to an address in Mort Street, Blacktown, around 12pm today, after a charity worker on what was reportedly a routine visit, attended the home and discovered the 16-year-old boy allegedly chained to a bed.
Ambulance Paramedics as well as Fire and Rescue NSW officers also attended. The boy who was not injured, was taken to taken to Westmead Hospital for a checkup while police investigate his living conditions.
"The young man is okay, he's been been taken there for precautionary measures, just to be checked over by a doctor," Inspector Maureen Deagan said earlier today.
The boy’s 38-year-old mother who had been out shopping, was arrested when she returned to the address at about 12.30pm. She was taken to Blacktown Police Station and assisted with inquiries before being released without charge.
She was reportedly questioned over whether this was a one-off or ongoing incident.
Neighbours told 7 News that they were sympathetic towards the mother and her five children who have been living on the Blacktown street for the past ten years.
They said the mother has been struggling to take car of the five children all by herself.
They believe the teenager, who has been known to run naked through the street and break into garages to sniff petrol, may have been locked up in the mother's absence to keep him getting into trouble.
"Well, he comes here, he goes in the shed, smells the petrol,” Josephine Calleja told 7 News. "Sometimes he goes out naked.. I mean, he's a man, you know, not a boy."
Neighbour Anna Marchione added that boy was not well.
Police from Blacktown Local Area Command will be investigating all circumstance surrounding the incident and will be speaking to the relevant welfare agencies to try and help the family.
Breaking: 15yo boy taken to Westmead Hospital. It's believed he'd been chained up in his family's Blacktown home @7NewsSydney
— Jessica Dietrich (@jessdietrich7) November 10, 2015
A Westmead Hospital spokeswoman confirmed to AAP that the 16-year-old was a patient.
"We're unable to provide a condition (update) at this stage," she said.
