A 52-year-old woman from Indiana was arrested after being captured on camera allegedly mistreating her foster children. Roxie Lee Huffman was charged with one count of domestic battery in the presence of a minor under 16 and one count of neglect of a dependent, according to court records.
The incident was reported to the police on May 21 when Craig Phillips Sr., the father of the four children in Huffman’s care, made a 911 call to report the abuse. His eldest child had recorded the incident and shared it with a friend who then passed it on to the mother of the child, Britney Fisher, who then forwarded it to Phillips.
The 12-second video showed a woman, later identified as Huffman, shouting at one of the children and pushing their head into a toilet bowl. The child struggled to break free, while another child was seen in the frame. The woman continued to use offensive language and kept the child’s head in the toilet while exclaiming, “Do you see that!”
In addition, Phillips provided police with eight photographs depicting the injuries suffered by one of the children. There were four photographs of a laceration on the forehead, two of a laceration on the back of the neck, and two of a scratch and abrasion on the throat and collarbone. Phillips also revealed that the child had been diagnosed with Epilepsy and Addison’s Disease.
The Kentucky Department of Child Services was contacted and confirmed that the four juveniles were under state custody and had been placed with Huffman. After obtaining Huffman’s consent, officers conducted a welfare check and noticed a strong smell of urine and feces, with puddles of animal urine in a room and gnats in the kitchen and living room.
Upon inspecting the bathroom featured in the video, the officers realized that Huffman’s physical appearance and voice were the same as those seen in the footage. While the DCS agent spoke to the children, Huffman engaged in a conversation with the officers outside. When asked why the children were in state custody, Huffman said that they had been under her care since September 2022.
Huffman also claimed that the children frequently argued and fought, and that one of the children had recently pushed another child’s head into a trash can. However, she insisted that no punishment was imposed on the responsible child. When asked if she had pushed the juvenile’s head into the toilet, Huffman replied with a firm “No.”
The children were relocated to a different residence under the care of a family member, and Huffman was taken into custody and transported to the Vanderburgh County Confinement Center. After posting a bond of $500, she was released the following day with a restriction not to have any contact with Phillips or the children.