Wake County mother jailed in child-neglect case blames years of abuse by her ex
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- Rachelleigh Galasso was arrested earlier this month on charges of child abuse.
- Galasso’s former partner, Lacy Hocutt, was also arrested on charges of raping their child.
- A new motion filed by Galasso says she was abused by Hocutt for years.
A Wake County woman accused of abusing four of her children is asking for bail so she can leave jail, arguing that any neglect was the result of years of domestic abuse by her ex-partner, according to a motion filed last week.
Rachelleigh Galasso, 33, and Lacy Douglas Hocutt Jr., 34, were arrested this month on more than a dozen charges combined, The News & Observer previously reported. Galasso is accused of child abuse by neglect, while Hocutt is accused of raping one of the children and child abuse, court records show.
Investigators learned of the allegations in February, and the Wake County District Attorney’s Office filed the charges after a “thorough investigation,” the Wake County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The allegations included that a 13-year-old was found malnourished and covered in feces in a dog cage and that several of the children had not been taken to the doctor or dentist in years.
Hocutt pleaded guilty in February to assaulting Galasso in November and was ordered to have no contact with her. Galasso’s motion for bond says that was one episode in a much longer pattern of abuse.
“For over a decade, Defendant has been violently abused by Hocutt,” the motion states. “Defendant describes a long history of being sexually assaulted, beaten, strangled, and held at gunpoint by Hocutt. Defendant has been deprived for years of the ability to leave the house or use a cell phone.”
When Galasso did get a cellphone, Hocutt would typically destroy it, the motion alleges.
“Defendant instead tended to rely on Facebook Messenger to reach out to family begging for help,” the motion says. “Defendant’s mother and sister contend they had called the police many times over the years, and often the calls went ignored or resolved without arrest.”
Wake County records of calls for service to Galasso’s most recent address from January 2016 to April 21, 2026, show only two 911 calls during that time, one of which was for a reported disturbance in April 2025. It’s not clear how long Galasso had been at that address or if she’d previously lived there with Hocutt.
Galasso’s motion alleges Hocutt placed cameras throughout their home and blacked out the windows of the residence.
“Defendant often had to beg her mother and sister for money just for basic necessities such as diapers and food,” the motion states. “Defendant often attempted to take the children to doctors [sic] appointments, but had no means to get to the appointments without transportation or money to pay for an Uber.”
Should she be given bail and post bond, Galasso is willing to stay with a friend and be on electronic monitoring, her lawyer wrote.
Galasso was indicted Tuesday on two charges of negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and two charges of negligent child abuse inflicting serious physical injury, court records show. Hocutt was also indicted Tuesday; he faces six charges of statutory rape of a child by an adult and three charges of statutory rape of a child 15 or under.
Galasso and Hocutt remained in jail without bail as of Thursday morning.
