Couple accused of keeping mentally disabled man in barn, stealing from him

GOSHEN, NY -- The owners of Silent Farm Bed and Breakfast in New York have been arrested after allegedly keeping a mentally disabled man in a barn while stealing from him.

John and Mary Quick are charged with endangering the welfare of a vulnerable adult and grand larceny.

On Tuesday night, all was quiet at Silent Farms, the horse farm and bed and breakfast in the rolling hills of New York.

Where in a scheme out of a Dickens novel, state police say the owners, John and Mary Quick, took advantage of a now 61-year-old mentally disabled farmhand, having him work for them for free for years.

"If I had to guess, this started off with a certain amount of well-being and deteriorated over time. That's as best we can tell," police said.

State police investigators spent three months piecing it together. Over more than a decade, they say, the grown man lived in a converted apartment in a barn on the property, and tended to the land and the horses.

But then a neighbor discovered he in fact had no heat or running water and called the police.

The police determined the Quicks were also accessing his bank account and getting their hands on his Social Security benefits.

From behind "no trespassing" signs Tuesday night, the Quicks refused to address the allegations.

"They don't treat people like that. They treat dogs better than that," said Brian, a family friend. "If you know this family that would never happen."

John Quick was arraigned and ordered to appear in a New York court Wednesday afternoon.

Mary Quick was arraigned and released on her own recognizance and ordered to reappear in the New York court at the same time as her husband.