A Texas couple was arrested Thursday for holding their adopted son hostage in an apartment garage for over four years because they feared he was a rapist who put his family and community in danger, their lawyer, Rip Collins, told a bail hearing on Friday.
The parents, 40-year-old Jenifer and 39-year-old Dane Thyssen, from an Austin suburb were arrested and charged with the illegal confinement of their son, 22-year-old Koystya, who was held captive in a shed-like structure with boarded up windows, the Associated Press reported. "He has a history of sex and abusing children, not only in other countries but in this neighborhood, this community," Rip Collins, a lawyer for the couple, told reporters at the court in San Marcos, outside of Austin.
Koystya's captivity was discovered after his parents contacted the police upon finding out that he had escaped confinement to allegedly break into a neighbor's house to steal female underwear, local broadcaster KXAN-TV reported. After carrying out the theft, he had returned to the shed with the stolen items.
According to the young man's uncle, Koystya was adopted from Kazakhstan 10 years ago after being abused as a child, and currently suffers from a diminished mental capacity. With a history of sex and abuse of children, his parents were forced to restrain him due to their concerns that other people would be harmed and in order to protect their four other children in the house.
The 22-year-old told police he was released once a week to shower and was given a weekly box of frozen and imperishable food. While being interviewed by investigators, he revealed "that he rarely received any presents on holidays, was not allowed to eat dinner with the family nor enter the main home with the other kids. If the family left for vacation, his adopted father Dane would stay behind to watch him and during those times would eat dinner with him. Aside from the family, Koystya said he had no relatives or friends in the U.S.," Liberty Voice reported.
The couple are being held on $350,000 bond at Hays County Jail, while Koystya is being held on $10,000 bond after being charged with burglary.