FRANKLIN — The mother of a young boy who police learned was kept locked alone in their home was placed on probation Monday, resolving a criminal case against her.

Simpson Circuit Judge Mark Thurmond sentenced Morgan Soper, 29, of Bowling Green, to five years of probation.

Soper pleaded guilty late last year to 179 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, 90 counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and a count of second-degree criminal abuse, reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors that recommended the probated sentence.

If Soper is found to have violated the conditions of her probation, she faces a 20-year prison sentence.

Soper and Johnathon Jenkins were investigated in 2023 by the Simpson County Sheriff’s Office after deputies were informed that a then-4-year-old boy was found in the couple’s Franklin home alone in a room that had been padlocked.

According to prior court testimony, a delivery driver who arrived outside the house saw the child crying and beating on the window on Oct. 12, 2023.

SCSO deputies forced their way into the home and found a padlocked door, leading into a room where the child was found wearing only a pull-up.

Police reported that fecal matter and urine stained two walls of the room, the child was covered in feces and did not have access to food or drink.

The child and his siblings were removed from the home and placed in foster care.

Jenkins and Soper were charged with hundreds of offenses after police investigated allegations that the pair left the child by himself while they went to Tennessee for their jobs.

Police gathered evidence that the practice had gone on for several months, with each of the wanton endangerment counts representing a day that the child was left alone.

Jenkins pleaded guilty to all counts against him and was sentenced in December to 10 years in prison.

At the time of Jenkins’ sentencing, his attorney, Zanda Myers, said he was in “extreme financial distress” prior to his arrest, which led him to “some poor choices.”

Thurmond said in court Monday that the evidence suggested that Jenkins was more at fault for the child’s living situation.

Soper’s attorney, Kayla Fugate of the Department of Public Advocacy, said that Soper has been complying with orders issued in a Simpson Family Court case brought against her by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, has been attending therapy and plans to live in Bowling Green.

“She has worked extremely hard to get her life back together,” Fugate said.