Left: Jerry Menees. Right: Chantel Hayford (Washington County Sheriff’s Office).
In a shocking case of alleged child abuse, a Missouri mother and her boyfriend are facing serious charges after police discovered that her children were subjected to horrific conditions, including being confined in a “chicken pen” and shot with BB guns. Authorities report that one child was forced to eat caulking, while another was driven to such despair that he resorted to eating bugs and leaves and stealing food.
The suspects, Jerry Menees and Chantel Hayford, were taken into custody following a police raid on their Potosi residence. This action came after an investigation that began in December, during which Hayford’s children recounted the abuse they allegedly suffered.
The case came to light when a concerned adult guardian reported that Hayford’s three children showed up at her house last summer, desperately seeking food. The children reportedly walked nearly four miles to get there, according to probable cause affidavits filed in Washington County.
The guardian informed authorities that Hayford had proposed an unsettling exchange, offering her children in return for a phone and a service plan valued at $231, effectively pricing each child at approximately $77.
Hayford allegedly formalized this arrangement by signing over power of attorney to the guardian, allowing her children—ages 13, 14, and 17—to live with the guardian while still spending time with Hayford and her boyfriend. This exchange reportedly took place in July 2025, with the phone plan covered through December 2025, as detailed in the affidavits.
The guardian noted that upon taking in the children, they appeared severely underweight, according to evaluations at a doctor’s office. She further revealed that they had never been enrolled in school, leaving them unable to read or write.
The guardian said the children told her about several alarming incidents that occurred while they were living with Hayford, according to the affidavits. One allegedly included having the 17-year-old “cut her hands and spread blood on the trees” near their home.
“The guardian confronted the mother who stated that she did this because of something going on with the animals,” the affidavits say.
Another incident involved Hayford forcing the teen to “eat caulking,” according to police. It’s unclear why she made her child do this. It allegedly happened a day after Hayford grabbed the teen “on the breast area” while telling her, “I made it so I can grab it,” per the affidavits.
Police say Hayford and Menees would lock the children up in a “chicken pen” and shoot them with an “air rifle” loaded with BBs. Menees allegedly “screwed the pen shut” while doing this, according to the affidavits.
On one occasion, cops say Menees allegedly pointed a “real” gun at the 14-year-old and told him he was going to “blow his brains out.” He also “almost suffocated him” during another incident while putting him “in a headlock,” the affidavits allege.
“[The 14-year-old] also stated that he (Jerry) would punch or slap him on a regular basis,” according to the affidavits. His mother, meanwhile, would allegedly call him “worthless and would cuss him.”
The 13-year-old also described how Menees would also allegedly threaten him with a gun.
“I hope he doesn’t shoot me because I have a long life to go,” the boy recalled thinking to himself while speaking to police about the abuse, per the affidavits.
The 14-year-old allegedly recounted going through a “great depression” during which he “ate bugs, leaves, and would steal food” as a result of the abuse. The boy said Menees and his mom would force him to do drugs, including methamphetamine, and would also have him drink alcohol — Jack Daniels, allegedly — and eat marijuana edibles.
The home that Menees and Hayford lived in was also “very dirty,” according to the affidavits, with there being feces on the floor and beds. The 14-year-old said that when he first went to see the adult guardian “his face was covered in feces and that it was cat and dog feces,” per the affidavits.
For entertainment, Menees and Hayford allegedly organized “fight nights” where the children were “forced to fight one another,” according to police.
Hayford has been charged with two counts of kidnapping, one count of sexual abuse, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, four counts of abuse or neglect of a child, and two counts of domestic assault. Menees is charged with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of armed criminal action, two counts of abuse or neglect of a child, one count of unlawful use of a weapon, and three counts of domestic assault.
The couple is being held without bond. They’re scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 20.
