Disabled man found chained in house

A woman who lives with the man said she had the man’s blessing.

SCRIPPS HOWARD

BREMERTON, Wash. — A man with Asperger’s syndrome, who had been chained inside a house and pepper-sprayed when he became physically aggressive, was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

A Kitsap County deputy sheriff was called to the house after an acquaintance was beckoned to the house and saw the 39-year-old disabled man chained by his wrist. Asperger’s is a mild form of autism. The man did not appear to be injured.

The woman who lives at the house returned while the deputy was there, and a representative from Adult Protective Services arrived. While talking with the deputy, the man said he did not want to look at the woman who had chained him.

The 39-year-old man left with the deputy and was taken to Harrison Medical Center for evaluation, said Deputy Scott Wilson, a spokesman for the office.

When the deputy left the house, he told the woman that a prosecutor would be in touch with her.

“When the prosecuting attorney calls I will talk to him and explain the situation as best I can,” she said.

During an interview with the Kitsap Sun, the woman said she chained and padlocked the man when she left him alone in the house with his blessing. She said the chain allowed him freedom of movement to use the restroom, the kitchen and access to a telephone.

“He said it was a win-win,” she said, noting that when the man came to live with her five years ago he was battling addiction to drugs, alcohol and tobacco. “It was kind of his decision.”

She also said she did not stay away from the house for long periods when he was chained inside.

As for the pepper spray, she said she used it earlier Tuesday, would not say how many times she has used it and noted she only did so when the 6-foot-2-inch, 230-pound man became physically aggressive.

She was told to keep the pepper spray nearby for her own safety, and said she didn’t call police when he became aggressive because she did not want him to get “lost in the system.”

The relationship between the two is not romantic and is based on her providing him a safe, spiritual place to live, she said.

Those who know the man through his job said he was often without money, and had to “panhandle” co-workers. They suspect that the woman is using the man for money from disability checks, a charge the woman denies.