Cops: Gwinnett child cruelty suspects locked daughter in bedroom

A Gwinnett County couple were arrested on charges of child cruelty after they were accused of isolating their 6-year-old daughter in a dirty bedroom for hours at a time.

Tiphanie Lanier, 29, and Joseph Lipscomb, 35, who shared a home in Snellville, were booked Monday night into the Gwinnett Jail on one count each of first-degree cruelty to children, online jail records show. Lipscomb was also charged with pos- session of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Officers who responded to the home on Broxton Mill Court in Snellville discovered Lipscomb and Lanier had been locking their daughter in one of the bedrooms of their rental house, Gwinnett police spokes- woman Officer Hideshi Valle confirmed to the AJC. Arrest warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News described the room as mostly empty, filled only with trash, a broken mattress and a 2-inch foam mattress topper where the girl slept.

The warrants claim that from late August to early November, Lipscomb and Lanier shut their daughter away to stop her interacting with their other children.