Okla. teen claims he was held in closet for years

[samanthajane13]

By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Sean Murphy, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 5 mins ago

OKLAHOMA CITY – A woman was arrested after her 14-year-son told authorities he escaped from a home where he'd been kept for 4 1/2 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 on Friday after the teen showed up malnourished and with numerous scars and other signs of abuse, police Sgt. Gary Knight said.

"He was hungry. He was dirty. He had numerous scars on his body," Knight said. "It was very sad."

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 LaRhonda 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 being held on $400,000 bond, according to jail records.

Jail officials were not sure wheter either had retained an attorney, and no one answered the phone at McCall's home. A police report listed McCall as a pharmaceutical company employee and Hamilton as a cab driver.

The teen, wearing only a pair of oversized shorts held up by a belt, walked up to a security guard at the Guard facility around 5 p.m. Friday and asked where a police station was located 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, the boy told police.

"He had scars covering most of his body," Knight said. "They were basically from head to foot."

The teen told police he moved to the Oklahoma City area from New Jersey about 4 1/2 years ago after his mother was released from jail. Since arriving in Oklahoma, he said, he had never been to school and spent most of his time locked in a bedroom closet.

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 at the home were taken into DHS custody, but none showed signs of abuse. McCall had lived at several different addresses in the Oklahoma City area, he said.

A DHS spokeswoman said she could not discuss specific cases but generally an investigation would be conducted before any of the children are returned to the home or placed with other family members.

"There may be family members, but we do a diligent search, and we're very careful about placing kids in a safe environment," DHS spokeswoman Beth Scott said.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_re_us/us_child_imprisoned

[samanthajane13]

Police: Teen frequently tied up, kept in closet
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Sean Murphy, Associated Press Writer – 48 mins ago

OKLAHOMA CITY – A woman accused of beating her 14-year-old son frequently tied him up to prevent him from escaping and had a lock installed on a bedroom closet where he often was kept for days at a time, police said Tuesday.

Investigators continued to conduct interviews and examine evidence on Tuesday as they prepare a criminal case against 37-year-old LaRhonda Marie McCall, police Sgt. Gary Knight said.

McCall and a friend, 38-year-old Steve Vern Hamilton, were arrested Saturday on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect. Both remained jailed Tuesday on $400,000 bond.

Neither has been formally charged, and jail officials were not sure if either has an attorney. No one answered the phone at McCall's home on Tuesday.

Based on physical evidence and interviews conducted so far, investigators have no reason to doubt the teen, who claimed he spent most of the last 4 1/2 years locked inside bedroom closets at various apartments where the family lived, Knight said.

"I personally have seen those photographs of the boy's body, and he was subjected to a number of types of abuse," he said. "He was frequently locked in the closet for hours if not days at a time. He wasn't allowed to leave, never attended school, never received medical attention."

McCall had seven other children, six of whom were minors and were taken into custody of the Department of Human Services, but none showed signs of abuse, Knight said.

Police launched an investigation Friday after the boy, malnourished and covered with scars, showed up at a National Guard armory about a mile and a half from the town house where he lived.

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.

Dr. Daniel Rybicki, a Gig Harbor, Wash., clinical psychologist who specializes in domestic violence and child abuse and consults in criminal and civil cases, said it's not uncommon for an abusive parent to single out one child as a target for violence.

"There may be temperament variables, where one child is difficult to deal with, but it may be that there are a number of factors with what that child means to the parent," Rybicki said. "The child may look like someone who troubled the parent.

"It may be completely irrational and based on that parent's own pathology."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_re_us/us_child_imprisoned

[samanthajane13]

Armory guards: Teen covered with bruises, scars
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Sean Murphy, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago

OKLAHOMA CITY – A 14-year-old boy had deep cuts around his wrists and was covered with burns, bruises and scars when he wandered into a National Guard armory last week and said he had escaped from a home where he was locked in a bedroom closet, officials said Tuesday.

Two security guards who work at the armory and saw the teen there Friday said they lost sleep over the weekend thinking about the boy and the torture he described.

"He said he wanted help, and as soon as he showed us the bruises, we took him inside" and called police, said one of the guards, Paul Clark. "His wrists looked like he either had been handcuffed or had ropes or chains around them. It really kind of took me aback."

Meanwhile, the manager of an apartment where the boy's family lived until last month said it appeared a closet in a bedroom of the home had been used as a bathroom.

Investigators continued to conduct interviews and examine evidence as they prepared a criminal case against the teen's mother, LaRhonda Marie McCall, 37, Oklahoma City police Sgt. Gary Knight said.

McCall and a friend, Steve Vern Hamilton, 38, were arrested Saturday on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect. Both remained jailed Tuesday on $400,000 bond. Neither has been formally charged, and jail officials were not sure if either has an attorney. No one answered the phone at McCall's home Tuesday.

Police believe the boy's mother frequently tied him up to prevent him from escaping and had a lock installed on a bedroom closet where he often was kept for days at a time. Based on physical evidence and interviews, investigators have no reason to doubt the teen, who claimed he spent most of the last 4 1/2 years locked inside bedroom closets at various apartments where the family lived, Knight said.

McCall had seven other children, six of whom were minors and were taken into custody of the Department of Human Services, but none showed signs of abuse, Knight said.

Karen Gilleland, manager of the Hillcrest Apartments in south Oklahoma City, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that after McCall was evicted for unpaid bills in August, a hole filled with human waste was found in the wall of a closet in their apartment unit.

Gilleland said she never realized McCall had more than seven children and that whenever Gilleland had been in the apartment during the several months the family lived there, the door to the bedroom where the soiled closet was found always was closed.

"I just wish I would have known about it," she said. "I would have done something."

Knight said Tuesday that he wasn't aware of the apartment manager's statements about the closet being used as a bathroom, but he had seen photographs of the boy's body "and he was subjected to a number of types of abuse."

"He was frequently locked in the closet for hours if not days at a time," Knight said. "He wasn't allowed to leave, never attended school, never received medical attention."

Police started an investigation Friday after the malnourished boy showed up at the base, about a mile and a half from the town house where he lived, and asked where a police station was located so he could report being abused.

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.

Leslie Sanders, another security guard at the armory, said the boy seemed believable and was concerned about the fate of his siblings.

"He was very straightforward with his answers," she said. "He still had a good enough heart to ask about his brothers and sisters."

Dr. Daniel Rybicki, a Gig Harbor, Wash., clinical psychologist who specializes in domestic violence and child abuse and consults in criminal and civil cases, said it's not uncommon for an abusive parent to single out one child.

"There may be temperament variables, where one child is difficult to deal with, but it may be that there are a number of factors with what that child means to the parent," Rybicki said.

"It may be completely irrational and based on that parent's own pathology."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_re_us/us_child_imprisoned

[zurichsl]

that , is ery sad what i`ve read . I mean i do remember a family near me had same type of social issues but , never gone that far as this family went . Why would you do this to your kid , for what reason teh boyfriend , didn`t like the way he was living his life , or the mother was jaleous and were tring t protect the boyfriend from being fall in life or lose hes job . Or it is something with the mother beccause of jail time , and she couldn`t face with the fact that her son is getting raised by the school as that is a big issue , so he tried to be nice and organized to avoid future effects as hes , mother did in a failure or misstaken facts . Hmmm , not an easy step for sure but , why to your son you do such a things like this why ? I`m not saying that you should do that to others for sure , but how ever you should not , do anything like that your son or others as did . Honestly , they couldn`t face with it , that hes trying to get them not specially them but to avoid anything like that in life , he has learned from life what would happen if you go to,an other way in life , so i think they just felt like they are nothing to him and that was the cause usually don`t know the family history when is that new boyfriend arrived in their life , but mostly they are the ones , at the first place they are just wanted to have her for at least once then when the mother relize that .
What is that cause to them , well the boyfriend get`s into a relation ship , probably a non worker or alcoholic realtion ship , or drug use or many other social issue , if nothing than they were just try to take an adventage on him . What isn`t so nice to be , i mean i would never keep my children for 4 1/2 years , ohh my god ... nasty , but they should appologize to the kid and set him free , to live .... good , luck kid .

[samanthajane13]

Okla. mom charged with locking son in closets

OKLAHOMA CITY – Prosecutors have charged an Oklahoma mother and her friend with abusing a boy who said he was locked in apartment closets for more than four years.

LaRhonda McCall and Steve Vern Hamilton were charged Thursday with a combined 53 counts of child abuse. They are accused of imprisoning and torturing McCall's son, who now is 14.

McCall and Hamilton were jailed after the boy sought help from a security guard at a National Guard armory on Sept. 25. The boy was malnourished and covered in bruises and scars.

The charges allege McCall and Hamilton beat the boy with "fists, bike chains, cables, extension cords, and/or boards."

The charging documents did not list attorneys for the pair and the prosecutor's office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091015/ap_on_re_us/us_child_imprisoned