A Springfield couple accused of locking their child in a dog cage entered Alford pleas to multiple counts of child endangerment Thursday morning.
Peggy Flores, 41, and Joseph Flores, 48, each pled to three counts of the Class D felony of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree. An Alford plea under Missouri law means a defendant does not admit guilt to a crime, but admits prosecuting attorneys have enough evidence against them that a court could reasonably convict them of a crime.
In accordance with the plea agreement, Greene County Circuit Judge Jerry Harmison sentenced both Peggy and Joseph Flores to four years in Missouri prisons — but suspended the prison sentences given they successfully complete five years of supervised probation.
As conditions of felony probation, Joseph Flores served eight days shock incarceration and Peggy Flores served three days shock incarceration. They must also comply with the directives of Missouri Children’s Division, the Greene County Juvenile Office, and Division of Probation and Parole, and have no contact with the victim.
Joseph Flores’ attorney Brady Musgrave told Harmison that the couple has worked “diligently” with Missouri Children’s Division to be reunified with a sibling of the juvenile victim.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Wantuck said the plea was done in consultation with, and in agreement with the wishes of the juvenile victim, his guardian ad litem, and the juvenile office.
Victim said abuse began when COVID-19 ‘forced' parents to homeschool
According to investigators, the juvenile victim underwent a forensic interview at the Child Advocacy Center on July 16, 2020. During the interview, the victim said his parents would lock him in his bedroom by turning the knobs around backwards and had nailed his window shut.
The victim disclosed that his parents would also put him in a dog cage, naked and with two dogs, as a form of punishment. The boy said they would pour urine on him and call him derogatory names. He also reported they would hit him with an extension cord.
The victim said all of these acts started when Springfield Public Schools ceased in-person learning due to the public health concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic and his parents were “forced to homeschool,” according to the probable cause statement Springfield police filed against Joseph and Peggy Flores.
A medical exam completed at the Child Advocacy Center revealed the victim had “patterned bruising” and “unexplained scars.”
“The medical provider documents her diagnosis as being child physical abuse with concerns that this may fit under the category of child torture,” a Springfield police officer wrote in the report.
At the time of his arrest in 2021, Joseph Flores had a warrant out of Colorado for failure to register as a sex offender. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol Sex Offender Registry, Joseph Flores was convicted of third-degree sexual assault in 2002 for an incident that happened in 1997. The victim in the Colorado case was 14.
