A man named Kariem Ali Muhammad Moore is being held on three counts of abduction by force, intimidation or deception, and one count of assault and battery after a woman and two children ran out of his house in Virginia during a welfare check by police on Saturday.
NBC News reports that officers were responding to a call to visit the house, from a concerned neighbor, though many people living nearby told reporters they were unaware anyone even lived in the house. Moore was speaking with police in the front when suddenly a woman and an 8 and 11-year-old exited from the side door. The woman told police that she and the children were free within the house, but Moore hadn’t allow them outside for two years. All the windows in the house were covered.
According to the Washington Post, it is believed that the woman was in a relationship with Moore and the children are his biological sons. The Post spoke with Moore’s mother, who claims that the last time she talked with her son, he was caring for his partner who she says was very sick and in a wheelchair:
“It’s a shock. I’m trying to hold up. I can’t get it together,” said Harriette Moore, who is in her 60s, has retired from working in government and lives in Philadelphia. “He was raised correctly. I raised my children to make their own way and become someone in the world.”
It’s unclear if Harriette Moore was referring to the same woman found at Moore’s house. However, that woman was taken to the hospital, according to NBC, to receive attention for “health conditions that have been left untreated for years.” The children have supposedly never been to school. They were also checked on at the hospital and are now with other family members. Moore will face a preliminary hearing in September, and is currently being held without bond at Rappahannock Regional Jail.