Father allegedly forced daughter to sleep on bathroom floor and drink toilet water because he thought she was going to kill him

A father has been arrested for aggravated child abuse and neglect after he allegedly forced his 9-year-old daughter to sleep on a bathroom floor and drink toilet water.

According to police, Jesse Piatt, 37, from Tennessee, and his wife Trish Piatt starved their daughter and when they fed her, she ate on the bathroom floor. The child's plight was discovered in January after a teacher caught her trying to steal food. Upon questioning, the girl confessed to her living conditions at home.

She said her parents did not give her blankets and she ate her dinner on the bathroom floor. She added that her meals usually consist of dry Ramen noodles. Police said that her parents would not feed her at all if she was fed two meals a day at school.

Following the girl's allegations, an investigation was opened and when police arrived, they found the girl in dirty clothes. She was very skinny and her nails were dirty. She also had a shaved spot on her head which she claims her step-mother was responsible for, police said.

Jesse Piatt was arrested on Thursday, March 29 in Millington, Tennessee. Local reports have stated that Piatt’s wife, Trish Piatt, was also arrested.

WSB-TV reported that Piatt was scared that the girl was going to kill him while he was sleeping, which was why she lived in such poor conditions. WSB-TV added that Piatt went to his daughter's school and called her an "embarrassment". Piatt also claimed the child had an undiagnosed medical condition, but could not be treated for it due to her age.

Piatt is currently being held in Shelby County Jail, and will have his first hearing in court today, according to police documents.

"It makes me sick," Dee Wimberley, the Piatt’s neighbor, told LocalMemphis.com. "How can somebody do that to a child? For it to happen right here under our nose makes me extremely sad. It makes me angry that I didn't know it was going on."