boy locked in closet for 4yrs, beat and abused

[Amby 490]

A 14-year-old Oklahoma boy was "hungry" and "dirty" after authorities say he escaped from a home where his mother and a friend allegedly starved him, beat him and locked him in a closet.

The mother, 37-year-old LaRhonda Marie McCall and friend Steve Vern Hamilton, 38, are behind bars on 20 complaints each of child abuse and neglect, which the boy said went on for about 4-and-a-half years. Formal charges haven't yet been filed.

"He was hungry. He was dirty," said Oklahoma City police Sgt. Gary Knight on Monday. "He had numerous scars on his body. It was very sad."

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, 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 McCall and Hamilton. Both are 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://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,556581,00.html

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Sweet child

As for the b1tch.... well. some people should NOT be allowed to reproduce.

[Nagishkaw 510]

0h my Lord Jesus!

[Kevin and 10]

#######, poor kids and why is DHS involved?

[Sandrila 1]

so disgusting I cannot even read all the details.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people out there are living yet they have no heart beating inside them AND

they can continue doing what they do with no conscience or feeling at all

[SMOKE 1,426]

#######, poor kids and why is DHS involved?

department of human services.

i just read this in the local paper. this was in the hillcrest apartments on s. harvey ave. those are some very small apartments, the 3 bedrooms are about 800-900 sq feet. they had 7 kids & 2 adults living in 1 apartment. how the hell did noone here this kid crying for help over the last 4 years?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Heart breaking.

It's one thing when it is one abuser but when two people are doing....what the hell is wrong with these people?? Goddam!