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Woman Accused Of Keeping Teenage Boy In Bathroom

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: February 12, 2009

SPRING HILL - A Spring Hill woman has been arrested on charges saying she locked a teenage boy in a bathroom for two years and beat him with a plank of wood.

The 16-year-old managed to escape Monday and go to a neighbor's house for help. A responding deputy said he found the boy covered in bruises and cuts.

The teen told the deputy that on Sunday he was made to strip down while the woman he lives with, Tailing Gigliotti, 50, bound his hands with packing tape and beat him with a 3-foot length of wood and a short section of water hose, according to an arrest affidavit.

Medical tests later revealed numerous lacerations and bruises, as well as old scars. Sgt. Donna Black, sheriff's spokeswoman, said the teen had been suffering from a broken right forearm for two to three weeks.

The teen added that he had not slept in a regular bed for more than three years because Gigliotti had forced him to sleep on the hallway floor as a form of punishment, an affidavit states. Whenever Gigliotti left for work, she locked him a bathroom with a window barricaded by plywood, an affidavit states.

The teen victim had managed to escape from the bathroom more recently, so the suspect bolted the door shut with "L" brackets, Black said. The main electrical panel was shut off during the day, leaving the victim in darkness.

The teen victim was still able to push the door open Monday, however, clothe himself and escape to the neighbor's house, Black said.

Investigators secured a search warrant for Gigliotti's home and said they found a wood plank and garden hose, stained with what appeared to be blood. They also confirmed that the bathroom door had been secured with "L" brackets and that plywood had been screwed into the metal window frame of the bathroom.

After being told of the investigation, Gigliotti was overheard as she talked on a cell phone outside that "he must have gotten out of the room," an arrest affidavit states.
Gigliotti was charged Tuesday with aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment and was released after posting a $15,000 bail.

Another adult, Anton Angelo, also lived in the house, but his relationship with Gigliotti is unclear, said Black.

The state Department of Children & Families had no contact with this family before Tuesday's arrest, according to Carrie Hoeppner, director of communications for DCF's central region.

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