Published: August 16, 2006 10:25 pm      

Couple accused of neglect go to trial

Jay and Teresa Moody, the Greentown couple charged with neglecting and confining two children in a horse stall, are set to stand trial Sept. 5 in Howard Circuit Court.

The trial date was confirmed Wednesday at the Moodys’ pre-trial hearing.

Police accuse the Greentown adoptive parents of confining their 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter in a horse stall fitted with wire caging at the couple’s horse farm, Four Seasons Farm, 4282 S. 800 East, according to court records.

Police also accuse the couple of denying the children food.

State police and sheriff deputies began investigating the Moodys late last year after hearing reports from school officials and people who visited the farm that they were abusing and neglecting the children.

Both posted $500, 10 percent of their $5,000 bail, after their March 31 arrest on two Class D felony neglect charges and were released from jail.

If convicted, the couple could serve up to four years in prison for each offense.