Hephzibah, Georgia — Two more adults were arrested Friday, Oct. 16, and are being held without bond on child cruelty indictments in the case of two foster brothers who were found starved, dehydrated and burned in a Hephzibah home in 2022, The Augusta Press reported. The boys’ foster mother pleaded guilty weeks earlier and was sentenced in September.
New indictments four years after the boys were found
Chasity Mack, 39, and Latosha Rountree, 45, were indicted on charges of first-degree cruelty to children, false imprisonment and aggravated battery-family violence, according to The Augusta Press. Rountree faces two additional first-degree cruelty counts, one for each boy, accusing her of scalding them with hot water.
Both women are being held without bond at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center in Augusta. The indictments allege the abuse took place between Feb. 13 and March 13, 2022. The charges are accusations, and neither woman has been convicted.
Foster mother pleaded guilty, barred from fostering
Annie Bynes, 61, who was the boys’ foster mother and guardian, pleaded guilty to four counts of cruelty to children about four weeks before the new arrests, the newspaper reported. Richmond County Superior Court Judge Jesse C. Stone sentenced her last month to four years in prison on each count, to run concurrently, followed by six years of probation.
Under the sentence, Bynes must testify in future proceedings in the case and is permanently barred from serving as a foster parent in Georgia. She is being held at McRae Women’s Facility, according to the report.
What investigators found in 2022
The boys, then 8 and 11, were found at a home on Ethan Way in Hephzibah in March 2022 after a social services well-being check led to a call to investigators, according to The Augusta Press. Medical examinations cited in the original arrest warrants documented malnutrition, dehydration and burns.
The indictments accuse the defendants of “locking both boys in a windowless bathroom for prolonged periods,” the newspaper reported. The boys first told investigators they had hurt themselves while bathing. A later report found that account was false.
Two other adults lived in the home in 2022 and were not charged in the original investigation, according to the report. The Augusta Press did not report how long the boys had been placed in the home, which agency approved the placement, or how often caseworkers visited before the well-being check.
The questions the placement leaves open
A foster home is a placement the state chooses, licenses and is supposed to monitor. Children in that home are in state custody, and the government that took them is responsible for checking on them. The 2022 findings describe injuries and weight loss that would not develop overnight. The court record so far answers who is charged. It does not answer how a licensed placement hid starvation and burns from the people paid to watch it, or whether anyone at the agency is being held to account.
Georgia’s child welfare system is already under scrutiny this year. The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services confirmed this summer it opened a review of its Richmond County office after complaints, WRDW reported in August. Families who believe a placement is unsafe can learn how to document and escalate concerns in FAN’s guide to foster care system problems.
What’s next
Mack and Rountree remain jailed without bond. No court dates were reported. Bynes’ sentence requires her to testify in the remaining cases.
Key facts
- Chasity Mack, 39, and Latosha Rountree, 45, were arrested Oct. 16, 2026, on cruelty, false imprisonment and aggravated battery indictments.
- Rountree faces two extra first-degree cruelty counts accusing her of scalding each boy.
- Foster mother Annie Bynes, 61, pleaded guilty to four counts of cruelty to children.
- Judge Jesse C. Stone sentenced Bynes to four years in prison plus six years of probation and barred her from fostering in Georgia.
- The brothers, then 8 and 11, were found malnourished, dehydrated and burned in March 2022.
- The indictments cover Feb. 13 to March 13, 2022.
Sources
- WRDW — State investigates Richmond County DFCS as child abuse cases climb (2026-08-04)
- The Augusta Press — New cruelty arrests in case of brothers who were starved and scalded at Hephzibah foster home (2026-10-18)
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