The state will continue to present evidence Thursday in the ongoing trial of a Jupiter father accused of locking his son in a box-like structure in the garage.
Tim Ferriter, 48, is on trial facing charges of child abuse, false imprisonment and child neglect. His wife, Tracy Ferriter, is facing the same charges in a separate trial.
Prosecutors were expected to continue making their case that Ferriter abused his adopted teenage son by keeping him confined in an 8×8 enclosure that had been specially constructed for him in the garage of their Egret Landing home.
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Jurors heard testimony from Ferriter’s son and adopted daughter Wednesday.
Ferriter’s son described in detail how he spent the majority of his time locked in the small room with nothing but a mattress on the floor, a desk and a bucket that he used to relieve himself.
WATCH: Teen says he ‘slept in an 8×8 room in the garage’
Tim Ferriter’s son: ‘I slept in an 8×8 room in the garage’
“Did you like being in that room?” Assistant State Attorney Brianna Coakley asked him.
“No,” he said.
“Did you want to be in the room?” she asked him.
“No,” he said.
Coakley then asked how he felt being in the room.
WATCH: Teen says being locked in room ‘dehumanizing’
Tim Ferriter’s son on being locked in room: ‘It’s dehumanizing’
“To me, being locked in the room, it’s dehumanizing,” he said. “It’s almost as bad as genocide.”
Despite the testimony, the teen said during cross-examination that he didn’t think poorly of his adoptive parents.
“I don’t have a bad image of Tim and Tracy,” he said. “They just made a mistake. They were just acting out of frantic surprise of my actions. They weren’t I believe that they weren’t trying to do any harm.”
WATCH: Teen says he doesn’t have ‘bad image’ of adoptive parents
Tim Ferriter’s son: ‘I don’t have a bad image of Tim and Tracy’
Defense attorneys tried to portray Ferriter’s son as a problem child whose repeated behavioral issues impacted not just the home life but also in the classroom.
During cross-examination, the teen admitted to stealing, bringing a box cutter to school, injuring his baby brother while they were living in Arizona and, when the boy was 4, offering him a beer to conduct an experiment.
His older sister also testified during Wednesday’s cross-examination that her brother was frequently in trouble, “hyper” and difficult to control.
WATCH: Tim Ferriter’s daughter recalls brother’s difficulties in Arizona
Tim Ferriter listens in court as daughter recalls brother’s difficulties in Arizona
The Ferriters were arrested by Jupiter police in February 2022.
Tracy Ferriter has been present in the courtroom throughout the trial, sitting behind her husband in the gallery and listening to the testimony from police and her children.
Wednesday’s proceedings concluded with jurors watching Ring videos from the teen’s makeshift room in the garage. Tim Ferriter could be heard repeatedly cursing at his son throughout the videos, which were not shown on the television cameras during live coverage of the trial.