duncan228
09-29-2009, 10:51 AM
Boy says he was kept in closet for years (http://headlines.ocregister.com/news/police-44411-guard-closet.html)
By Sean Murphy
OKLAHOMA CITY A woman was arrested after her 14-year-old son told authorities he escaped from a home where he'd been kept for 41/2 years, spending most of his time locked in a bedroom closet, police said Monday.
A security guard at a National Guard facility in Oklahoma City called police Friday after the teen showed up malnourished and with numerous scars and other signs of abuse, police Sgt. Gary Knight said.
The boy was taken to a hospital to be examined and then turned over to the custody of the Department of Human Services, Knight said.
After police interviews, officers on Saturday arrested the boy's mother, 37-year-old La-Rhonda Marie McCall, and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Vern Hamilton, on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect.
Formal charges have not been filed, and both were held on $400,000 bond, according to jail records.
The teen walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility around 5 p.m. Friday and asked where a police station was so he could report being abused, according to a police report. He told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire; other scars were from being tied up, hit with an extension cord and choked.
He told police the closet door was mostly blocked with a stepladder or a bed and that he managed to push the door open enough to escape and leave the house.
Knight said six other children living in the home were taken into DHS custody, but none showed signs of abuse.
By Sean Murphy
OKLAHOMA CITY A woman was arrested after her 14-year-old son told authorities he escaped from a home where he'd been kept for 41/2 years, spending most of his time locked in a bedroom closet, police said Monday.
A security guard at a National Guard facility in Oklahoma City called police Friday after the teen showed up malnourished and with numerous scars and other signs of abuse, police Sgt. Gary Knight said.
The boy was taken to a hospital to be examined and then turned over to the custody of the Department of Human Services, Knight said.
After police interviews, officers on Saturday arrested the boy's mother, 37-year-old La-Rhonda Marie McCall, and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Vern Hamilton, on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect.
Formal charges have not been filed, and both were held on $400,000 bond, according to jail records.
The teen walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility around 5 p.m. Friday and asked where a police station was so he could report being abused, according to a police report. He told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire; other scars were from being tied up, hit with an extension cord and choked.
He told police the closet door was mostly blocked with a stepladder or a bed and that he managed to push the door open enough to escape and leave the house.
Knight said six other children living in the home were taken into DHS custody, but none showed signs of abuse.