TOLEDO, Ohio - A couple locked their 10-year-old son in a small dog cage while his father used drugs, and at times they forced him to wear a shock collar meant for training animals, authorities said.

Jessica Botzko, 28, and John Westover, 37, were arrested Wednesday, a day after the boys were left alone at home and ran away. They were found on a neighbor's porch.

The couple appeared briefly in court Thursday on charges of child endangerment and making or selling drugs in front of the boy and his 5-year-old brother.

The older boy told officers that he took off because he was tired of being left in the cage, which was less than 2 feet high by 2 feet wide, police Capt. Ray Carroll said.

Court documents say the boy was repeatedly shocked at the family's home through the remote-controlled collar.

The boy looked thin and told authorities he had not eaten for a couple of days, police said. He weighed 61 pounds, Carroll said.


Read the full story HERE

Damn.

psychodelicide said:

61 pounds?? Lock those parents up and throw away the key! This reminds me of "Parenthood"--you need a license to catch a fish, but any asshole can be a parent.

It is sad that there are people who can not have children, yet those two fools could and they treat their son like that. It is horrible.
[Edited 5/3/07 18:08pm]

live4lust said:

So true.

jess555ja said:

exactly! in cases lie this it should be an eye for an eye. let them get down to 61 lbs. and stick them in a cage.

Iv known plenty of 10 year olds that weighed 61 pounds sometimes a bit under... that doesnt mean anything when a kid tells someone that they havent eaten in a few days they are oblagated to beleive them even if they weigh 100 pounds..
the whole shocking and cage thing is horrable though.

Yup, we here in the Toledo local media (I work for the FOX affiliate) are reporting about this.

Here's some more of the topic.

From NBC24 WNWO -- Accused Caged Kids Couple Face Judge

From WTVG 13ABC -- Toledo parents charged for caging their kids

From WTOL CBS 11 -- Judge Sets Bond for Two Accused of Child Endangerment

From WUPW FOX Toledo -- Parents Arrested for Allegedly Locking Boys in a Cage

From The Toledo Blade -- Bond set for Toledo couple held in caged-kids case

Oh, and this is the second "caged kids" event in Ohio in two years. This one in Toeldo and the other one in Wakeman in Huron County, sort of near Sandusky (home of Cedar Point Amusement Park).

Associated Press on Gravelle caged kids adoption special needs case from late 2006.

and ...

Complete trial log on the Gravelle caged kids case stemming from September 2005.
[Edited 5/3/07 19:47pm]

They should let us do that to students!

this is absolutely horrible! ive never heard of such a thing..





and for the record... not everyone from ohio is like this.
it's terrible to hear that anyone in general is!

live4lust said:

i weighed 79 lbs. when I was 14. though my step-mom was starving me too.

Sweeny79 said:

I felt that way back in my Catholic grade-school anyway!
[Edited 5/4/07 10:28am]

lock them in little cages and drop them off in the woods somewhere, and leave them.

Yup. This is why I don't have kids. This would be me.

Disgusting. They treat their kids like animals? They must have been on drugs to think it was ok to put a shock collar on a little boy.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

seriously though, what is a cage besides a playpen with a roof?

The disgusting thing about this whole story is that the parents pretty much neglected the children because they were drug addicts. That's sad and horrible and downright disgusting.

However, many of these dog kennels/cages are roomier and nicer than some playpens out there and they're probably safer because the kid can't crawl out.

But yeah...not for ten year olds and not because you want your kid out of the way while you get high.

JasmineFire said:

Okay, I just spoke with my mom about the whole "playpen with a roof" thing and she said that when I have kids I won't feel that way.

okay.

JasmineFire said:

you will be happy to be able to pee with the damn bathroom door open and not worry that the little one will see you