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A New Jersey couple accused of abusing a teenager while keeping her chained and locked up inside a dog crate for several years will remain in jail.
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WATCH HEREBranndon Mosley, 41, and Brenda Spencer, 38, both of Gloucester Township, attended court hearings on Thursday, May 22, 2025. They will remain detained as they await their next court appearance which is scheduled for July 23, 2025.
Spencer and Mosley are both charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and other offenses.
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SIGN UP Additionally, Mosley -- who was a regional rail conductor with SEPTA -- was also charged with sexual assault.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.
An 18-year-old woman -- who is Spencer's daughter and Mosley's stepdaughter -- told police she escaped from the couple's home, along the 300 block of Ridge Avenue in Blackwood in Gloucester Township, with help from a neighbor on May 8, 2025, after being held captive at the residence since 2018, investigators said.
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Officials said they met the victim at a Wawa located along the 800 block of Black Horse Pike, in Blackwood, NJ, shortly after she escaped the home.
"I wish I knew what was going on before. Otherwise, I would have reported it," the neighbor who helped the teen escape said.
The teen told investigators that the abuse began in 2018 when she was in sixth grade and Spencer removed her from her school.
Following her removal from school, the victim told investigators she was "forced to live in a dog crate for approximately one year and was let out periodically," according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
She was also forced to live in a padlocked bathroom while she was chained up, officials claim. Investigators who interviewed the victim said she still had scars on her wrists, according to the criminal complaint.
Other times, police claim, the victim was forced to live in a bare room where she had to use a bucket instead of a toilet.
This room was rigged with an alarm system that would alert Spencer and Mosley if she attempted to escape, investigators said.
During her captivity, the teen said she was beaten with a belt and was sexually abused by Mosley, according to officials.
According to court documents, on at least one occasion, the victim claimed Mosley withheld food from her while she was chained up with her hands behind her back, until after he sexually abused her.
In a search of the property where the teen claimed she was held captive, officials said, investigators "found that the victim was subjected to living in squalid conditions alongside numerous dogs, chinchillas, and other animals."
'Heinous, yearslong torture'
"What this young woman survived was absolutely horrific," Camden County Prosecutor Grace MacAulay said during a press conference on May 14, 2025.
Spencer's other daughter, a 13-year-old girl who was also living at the home, was removed by law enforcement officials, police said.
That victim had also been removed from school at Spencer's discretion and both she and the 18-year-old victim were allegedly being homeschooled, officials said. Attorneys said they believe it has been about seven years since either girl received any formal education.
Asked about how the teen managed to escape the home, MacAulay and other law enforcement officials said they couldn't provide further information at this point in the investigation.
Still, MacAulay said the teen survived "heinous, yearslong torture," that was able to be conducted under the guise of homeschooling.
According to MacAulay, in New Jersey, a child can be removed from schools if a parent or guardian tells school officials of their intent to homeschool and there's no follow up checks or testing on the child after that.
Because of this, she said that while homeschooling can be the right choice for some families, in this case, MacAulay argued that it was used as a way to hide abuses allegedly being committed.
“Clearly there are flaws in the current educational system,” she said.
Gloucester Township Police Chief David Harkins said the victim didn't immediately provide all of the details in this case after she initially met with police. She later contacted police the weekend after her escape when she was ready to discuss more information, officials said.
"I kind of already had a suspicion of what happened. Only because you never see them and they’re very quiet and it could have only been one thing. That’s kind of always been kind of weird to me," one neighbor told NBC10.
Both Spencer and Mosley were apprehended at their home on May 11, 2025.
Mosley worked for SEPTA as a regional rail conductor, officials said. He was among the employees who were honored by SEPTA in March.
Mosley allegedly admitted to locking his stepdaughter in the crate while speaking with investigators. During a court appearance however, Mosley's attorney argued his client was trying to take the blame off Spencer. The attorney also questioned the victim's credibility and claimed Mosley made his statements to investigators after a long nightshift for SEPTA.
Spencer's attorney, meanwhile, highlighted her client's statements in which she denied any abuse took place. Ultimately, the judge ordered both suspects to remain in custody at the Camden County Correctional Facility on Thursday, calling their alleged actions barbaric and dangerous.
"Clearly they are flight risks and clearly anyone that would commit these atrocities on a child let alone a child that they are related to by blood and affinity...beyond inexcusable, beyond horrific, beyond heinous," MacAulay said on Thursday. "It is absolutely unfathomable."
Investigators are asking anyone who may have information on this case to contact Detective Timothy Jordan of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit at (856) 365-3073 and Detective Daniel Ritz of the Gloucester Township Police Department at (856) 228-4500.
Tips may also be sent to CAMDEN.TIPS.
