Adrian's father and stepmother have been sentenced to life for the 7-year-old's murder. Source: The Kansas City Star
WARNING: GRAPHIC, DISTURBING CONTENT
Unsealed records have revealed years of abuse suffered by seven-year-old Adrian Jones who was tortured to death by his parents then fed to their pigs in 2015.
Child Protection Services in Missouri and Kansas have come under fire since the boy's shocking death was discovered, the Daily Mail reported.
They were in touch with his father Michael and stepmother Heather on numerous occasions and had even been alerted to fears for Adrian's welfare but carried on allowing him to live with the pair.
Both are now in prison where they will remain for at least 25 years before either is eligible for parole.
Michael A. Jones, left, and Heather Jones. Photo / Wyandotte County Detention Center
On Tuesday, newly unsealed records, which state agencies had kept private until the parents' legal trials came to an end, were revealed.
The documents, which are among 2000 that have been released, showed that before his death, Adrian was hospitalised and was presented to doctors with black eyes.
He was seen eating food out of a trash can and was locked in a shower stall behind a plywood door for months before he finally succumbed to his injuries.
Officials in Kansas say they last had contact with the family in 2012 and that Michael and Heather worked 'constantly' after that to "evade our intervention".
In 2011, they received allegations that Heather had abused another child but it was found to be 'unsubstantiated'. While investigating that claim, they noted that Adrian had bruises on his face and a black eye.
The couple recorded the abuse of Adrian, including this incident where he was hit with a broom.
Surveillance camera captured footage of Adrian handcuffed outside in the driveway.
At the time, Michael Jones told them he'd separated from Heather and agreed not to spend any time with any of the children they cared for.
The family was given a therapist who made note of their intention to buy pigs in their notes but who did not raise the alarm to remove the children from their care.
In November 2013, Heather Jones obtained Medicaid for Adrian while they still lived in Kansas. It is not noted in the documents what kind of care he received as a result.
A month later, she was denied it when she tried to obtain other help because she could not prove she was living in Kansas.
One of the pictures on Heather Jones's computers showed how she and her husband had forced Adrian to stand straight by bandaging kitchen cutting boards to his front and back.
Adrian Jones and his oldest sibling, half-sister Keiona Doctor, shared a kiss on Christmas Eve 2012. It was the last time Keiona and grandmother Judy Conway saw Adrian.
Missouri's Department of Social Services also kept tabs on the family but never removed Adrian from the home.
In an interview in July 2013, he told a child division worker who'd been assigned to interview him that Michael kept hitting him in the head.
He also claimed that Heather was 'mean' to him, that the pair did not feed him and that he they locked him in a room by himself.
Despite his graphic descriptions of the abuse - given when Adrian was just five - agencies allowed him to carry on living with the pair because they said they could not see any physical evidence that he was being harmed.
In October that year, someone reported seeing Adrian out of a trash can.
Adrian would be strapped to an inversion table and left there by his stepmother.
As a result of the claim, a social worker was assigned to determine whether he had "parental control" but there is no evidence of what they did to care for him afterwards.
The family moved to Kansas City, Kansas, where they lived on a rented property.
It was there where Michael and Heather increased the brutality of their abuse and eventually tortured the boy to death.
The sick duo shared tips and photographs of how they liked to torment Adrian. The disturbing images, which were eventually discovered by police after his death, showed him strapped to an inversion table and bound in bandages with cutting boards stuck to him with duct tape.
Heather and Michael Jones would make Adrian stand in the stagnant pool all night. This is one of the last images taken of him.
Others showed him being made to stand outside in the cold for hours on end carrying tiki torches. His shower cell was also photographed and he appeared in others treading water in a filthy swimming pool for the pair's entertainment.
Heather Jones told friends on Facebook that Adrian was a "psychopath" who wanted to kill "everything he comes in contact with".
She complained that he did not respond to "pain compliance" and said he had to be restrained "95 per cent of the time".
Another member of the family, one of his uncles, said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The pigs that Michael Jones bought.
The unsealed documents also revealed that after feeding his body to feeder pigs in September 2015, Michael Jones tried to cover up his murder by claiming he'd been sent to a mental facility for help.
Adrian's maternal grandmother insists the system failed him. His biological mother is not involved in his death or the ongoing scrutiny of state agencies which it has caused.
