NY NY - Jacob Pritchett, 11, autistic, not seen several weeks, mother arrested, Brownsville/Brooklyn, Sept 2025

[Inthedetails]

That's the first time I hear about Jacob being raised by grandma.

I probably have it mixed up with another case. Sorry I mentioned it without checking.

jmopinion

 

[borndem]

The judge wants to keep her at Rikers until she cooperates but that may not phase her. She was a single parent, in low income housing and appeared to be having trouble even caring for herself. She didn't have electricity at the well check and reports are that her apartment was unkempt.

Perhaps, in her case, this won't promote her cooperation.

my bold.
Agreed. Seems to me, she'll be getting 3 free meals a day, a clean bed, shower, etc. She may like it there, at least for a while. Grrrrr.

 

[Goecke]

Thirdly, that she has been allegedly said to have been pushing him around on strollers. True, it could be, that this little angel boy had more issues that we knew (or anyone else.). But even then, he would had been provided the right size of wheelchair or in some cases, actual strollers. Otherwise it could be once again, some version of doll play.

There could have been a financial barrier here (insurance often won't approve 100% of the cost of a wheelchair) or it could be due to a lack of medical care. It sounds like Jacob had never been seen by a doctor, at least not recently, so I HIGHLY doubt he ever saw someone who could prescribe him a wheelchair/larger stroller if he needed one.

Autism and physical disabilities can co-occur a lot, but given that Jacob was severely neglected and very small for his age, IMO I think the likely explanation is that he was too weak to walk significant distances. Just speculation on my part, there's no way to know for sure until the mom talks and it doesn't sound like she will any time soon.

 

[bluestsocks]

my bold.
Agreed. Seems to me, she'll be getting 3 free meals a day, a clean bed, shower, etc. She may like it there, at least for a while. Grrrrr.

Rikers is notorious for being awful in many ways - a dearth of food, dirty, not kept up. A lot of abuse and violence. I keep remembering the teenage boy who died there because he was accused of stealing a backpack. I suspect if she acclimates, it will be more because her mental health is so poor that she doesn’t fully understand what is happening around her.

 

[ReDReq]

There could have been a financial barrier here (insurance often won't approve 100% of the cost of a wheelchair) or it could be due to a lack of medical care. It sounds like Jacob had never been seen by a doctor, at least not recently, so I HIGHLY doubt he ever saw someone who could prescribe him a wheelchair/larger stroller if he needed one.

Autism and physical disabilities can co-occur a lot, but given that Jacob was severely neglected and very small for his age, IMO I think the likely explanation is that he was too weak to walk significant distances. Just speculation on my part, there's no way to know for sure until the mom talks and it doesn't sound like she will any time soon.

Thanks for clearing for me bit more how insurance plays part in all of this. I only knew some about the disability services through few of my friends, but in regards of getting better strollers and wheelchairs, I admit not knowing that much.

And I agree, that it's a possibility that he wasn't able to walk more than short distances. And there is so many other reasons too... On this his mother would be best one to clear things up. I am sure she is pressured otherwise too, to give out any information regarding Jacob, but to the public eye, she is all on stonewalling.

 

[appleatcha]

Wasn't he raised by his grandmother until she passed away? I might be mis-remembering or mixing up with another case, but I suspect the grandmother's death triggered this downward spiral.

jmo

I think you have him confused with Jayden Spicer.

 

[Eli9]

Brooklyn mom of missing 11-year-old autistic boy invokes Fifth Amendment in Family Court

Jacqueline Pritchett invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself when a judge on Thursday again asked where her son Jacob is.

www.nydailynews.com

Finally found an article without a paywall.
Of note

Her case is being held in family court
..
She's being held on a civil court contempt warrant. (I was wondering what the charge was)
..
"Pritchett had seven times previously refused in court to reveal where Jacob is."
..
Even if she is released the judge noted "she must still continue to appear at Family Court hearings or risk being the subjeect of an arrest warrant.
..
"but there were two mattresses inside as well as toys in the bathroom and in closets."
..
"the NYPD had reviewed several months of surveillance footage at the Pritchett’s building but did not see Jacob."
..
"the search went back three months,"

 

[Eli9]

Here is an article supposedly claiming to differentiate the difference between pleading the 5th in family court as opposed to criminal court. But I couldn't really discern the difference. Tossing it out here.

Can You Plead the Fifth in Family Court?

Invoking your Fifth Amendment right in family court is a complex choice. Your silence can protect you from criminal charges but may harm your civil case.

legalclarity.org

 

[appleatcha]

Here is an article supposedly claiming to differentiate the difference between pleading the 5th in family court as opposed to criminal court. But I couldn't really discern the difference. Tossing it out here.

Can You Plead the Fifth in Family Court?

Invoking your Fifth Amendment right in family court is a complex choice. Your silence can protect you from criminal charges but may harm your civil case.

legalclarity.org

I once heard a family court judge explain it to a defendant as "In criminal court, they aren't supposed to assume you're guilty because you plead the 5th, but in family court I am allowed to make that inference."

 

[Eli9]

I once heard a family court judge explain it to a defendant as "In criminal court, they aren't supposed to assume you're guilty because you plead the 5th, but in family court I am allowed to make that inference."

I can see how that would relate to a financial matter or something not relating to the whereabouts and or death or concealment of a minor child. Based on her charges I agree that the family court can't keep her locked away indefinitely. What other options are there in a case like this?

 

[ivylambs]

This case brings to mind a semi-local case to me, the murder of Max Schollenberger. That poor little boy was starved, beaten, and locked in a dark room for years until he died there, alone and covered head-to-toe in feces. (The story gets far worse but I will spare everyone the details.) He was twelve years old when he was murdered, but there are no pictures of him past preschool age. Almost no one outside the home knew he existed, since he'd never gone to school and stopped seeing doctors as a toddler. Frankly, I might have never noticed anything was off in Jacob's case -- there are lots of explanations besides murder for the absence of a child from the home of a neighbor I don't know. It's a miracle that his disappearance was reported and it makes me wonder how many children have been sequestered away or died without notice.

I'm also thinking about Cadence Langley, an autistic girl a little older than Jacob who was murdered by her mother and remained a Jane Doe for two years. We know so little about her -- not even a single picture of her in life.

 

[Knox]

On Thursday, the Brooklyn Family Court judge asked the woman the question for the seventh time: Where was Jacob?

Ms. Pritchett has been brought back to court repeatedly, and on Thursday, Judge Orsatti tried again.

“If you tell the court the whereabouts of Jacob, I will release you from incarceration,” Judge Orsatti said.

Ms. Pritchett, dressed in brown sweatpants and sweatshirt, sat next to her lawyer and looked back silently. Her lawyer, Daniela Mancini, leaned over and said her client was invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Judge Orsatti sent Ms. Pritchett back to Rikers.

Brooklyn Defender Services, the public defenders representing Ms. Pritchett, declined to comment about the boy’s disappearance or whether his mother knew anything about it. It has filed court papers arguing that she should be released immediately from Rikers Island, calling her detention a “constitutional violation.”

”The Family Court in this case is doing precisely what the constitutional guarantee against compelled self-incrimination forbids: It is exerting the court’s coercive power to force Ms. Pritchett to give testimony that could expose her to criminal prosecution,” wrote Brian A. Holbrook, a lawyer for Brooklyn Defenders, in a Dec. 2 petition.

Where Is Jacob? His Mother Won’t Say, and the Police Cannot Find Him.

Jacob Pritchett, 11, has been missing for months. A judge has said his mother must remain at Rikers Island until she reveals his whereabouts.

www.nytimes.com