Former AL couple charged with sex crimes, violence against 11 children in their care
FLORENCE, AL (WAFF) - A married couple who lived in Florence has been arrested in Cape Coral, Florida on hundreds of sex crimes and abuse charges involving children in their care.
The Florence Police Department was notified on Wednesday that authorities in Cape Coral, Florida, had arrested Jenise Spurgeon, 52, on outstanding felony warrants with the Florence Police Department.
The warrants stem from an ongoing investigation into allegations of sexual abuse involving Jenise Spurgeon and her husband, Daniel Spurgeon, 47.
In July 2016, detectives with the Florence Police Department were contacted by detectives with the Cape Coral Police Department following an incident that had occurred in their jurisdiction. Their investigation led detectives to believe that abuse had occurred in Alabama while the couple lived in the Florence area.
Since that time, Florence police detective and officials from the Alabama Department of Human Resources gathered evidence that led to arrest warrants against both Daniel and Jenise Spurgeon.
Their charges are as follows:
Daniel Spurgeon:
2 counts of sexual abuse of a child under 12
115 counts of first-degree sexual abuse
122 counts of child abuse
4 counts of first-degree sodomy
4 counts of sexual torture
3 counts of domestic violence by strangulation and/or suffocation
6 counts of first-degree rape
115 counts enticing a child for immoral purposes
6 counts incest
11 counts of first-degree human trafficking
Jenise Spurgeon:
100 counts of child abuse
1 count of domestic violence by strangulation and/or suffocation
11 counts of first-degree human trafficking
100 counts of endangering the welfare of a child
100 counts of enticing a child for immoral purposes
The case involves a total of 11 victims who were either in the care of or the adoptive children of the Spurgeons at the time the abuse occurred. Investigators say it is the biggest child sex abuse case in Lauderdale County's history.
Police say the Spurgeons moved to the Florence area in 2008 and later moved to Florida.
Investigators say the couple housed more than 50 foster children during their eight years in Alabama.
Daniel Spurgeon remains in the Lee County, Florida, jail with holds placed on him for the warrants in Alabama.
Jenise Spurgeon was arrested Wednesday at a court hearing on related charges in Florida and remains in the Lee County jail while awaiting extradition to Lauderdale County, Alabama.
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