Hidden Boy's Dad: He Was Brainwashed
The mother accused of hiding her six year old boy in a secret room in her mother's house for nearly two years was in court Tuesday, and the judge refused to allow her any access to her son.
Outside the courthouse, Shannon Wilfong insisted to reporters that she hadn't done anything wrong.
Responding to a tip, authorities say, they found Wilfong, 30, and her son, Richard "Ricky" Chekevdia, inside the home of Ricky's grandmother, Diane Dobbs, 51, on Friday.
Investigators say he was kept in a room behind a false wall just 12 feet by 5 feet, with a ceiling only four feet high whenever visitors arrived, and never allowed to leave the two-story rural home in southern Illinois' Franklin County, about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Wilfong and Ricky disappeared in Nov. 2007 after a contentious custody battle that resulted in temporary custody for the boy's father, Mike Chekevdia.
Wilfong's mother claims she and her daughter hid her grandson to protect him from Chekevdia, who they claim sexually abused the boy.
As she was being led away from the courthouse, Wilfong contended to reporters Tuesday, "My little boy said that he was scared to go back, because his dad was gonna tie him up again."
The judge has ordered Ricky to stay with one of Mike Chekevdia's relatives until a November custody hearing, but indicated his desire to reunite father and son after thorough counseling.
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez asked Chekevdia whether he's concerned that Ricky might not want to go back and be with him because, according to a state child welfare worker, Ricky is calling Chekevdia a monster.
Michael replied, "He's staying with family, and I get situation reports from my family seven-to-ten times a day as to how he's doing. I call them, they call me. You know, we spoke about that stuff. And I asked them, did these appear to be programmed statements? Or were they actually words he used with emotion? And ... my family member told me -- and he's a really educated guy -- he said they really appear to be programmed responses. ... To my son, I think, it's a word more than a word that's associated with an actual being."
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Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Outside the courthouse, Shannon Wilfong insisted to reporters that she hadn't done anything wrong.
Responding to a tip, authorities say, they found Wilfong, 30, and her son, Richard "Ricky" Chekevdia, inside the home of Ricky's grandmother, Diane Dobbs, 51, on Friday.
Investigators say he was kept in a room behind a false wall just 12 feet by 5 feet, with a ceiling only four feet high whenever visitors arrived, and never allowed to leave the two-story rural home in southern Illinois' Franklin County, about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Wilfong and Ricky disappeared in Nov. 2007 after a contentious custody battle that resulted in temporary custody for the boy's father, Mike Chekevdia.
Wilfong's mother claims she and her daughter hid her grandson to protect him from Chekevdia, who they claim sexually abused the boy.
As she was being led away from the courthouse, Wilfong contended to reporters Tuesday, "My little boy said that he was scared to go back, because his dad was gonna tie him up again."
The judge has ordered Ricky to stay with one of Mike Chekevdia's relatives until a November custody hearing, but indicated his desire to reunite father and son after thorough counseling.
On "The Early Show" Wednesday, co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez asked Chekevdia whether he's concerned that Ricky might not want to go back and be with him because, according to a state child welfare worker, Ricky is calling Chekevdia a monster.
Michael replied, "He's staying with family, and I get situation reports from my family seven-to-ten times a day as to how he's doing. I call them, they call me. You know, we spoke about that stuff. And I asked them, did these appear to be programmed statements? Or were they actually words he used with emotion? And ... my family member told me -- and he's a really educated guy -- he said they really appear to be programmed responses. ... To my son, I think, it's a word more than a word that's associated with an actual being."
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The article is here;
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20090905/US.Boy.Behind.Wall/
Personally I believe that the Ricky should be returned to the Mommy. The courts suck! It doesn't matter to the courts that the father was abusive they don't care. The mother did this to protect her son. And unless someone is in this type of situation it is very hard to comprehend why a Mommy would do this...any good Mom would take the same actions to protect her children from an abusive situation even from a father who is a "Police Officer". Ofcource they are going to grant him custody because an abusive cop will not hold up in court.
I say let the Mom out of jail and reunite her with the son so she can protect him. And investigate the father for abuse! If the father's biggest worry was bringing him to the dentist then Ricky must have looked good and is just finding anything to complain about. But I bet anything his teeth looked fine. The Mom probably kept the same routine and brushing the teeth is in that.
This statement below shows Ricky was doing great and the Mommy and Grandmother took great care of Ricky minus the limitations due to hiding from the abusive father and being restricted to staying inside.
"We let him out of the (patrol) car and he ran around like he'd never seen outdoors. It was actually very sad," Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Stan Diggs said. "He was very happy to be outside. He said he never goes outside." "Surprisingly," Diggs added, "Ricky is in very good spirits. For someone who's been isolated in that house with no other outside beings, he's a very social, very polite, very talkative little boy."
This situation happens way too much...it happened to me. And guess what my father was a cop as well. The court did not care that an abuse shelter had pictures of my Mom from multiple visits with black eyes, broken nose, bones and etc. They didn't care that we (my siblings and I) told them of the incidents of abuse such as picking me up by my head to bring me to his eye level 6'2 - which could have easily broke my neck but the courts don't care. They don't care that he held my sister down on a chair and began punching her in the head. Because he was a "Cop". They didn't even care that my father bought a new rifle to go hunting on a cow farm after my Mom left him. Yes, I said cow farm where they Did Not allow hunting...lies, that is what these crazy people do best lie. So your asking what happened? My father was granted custody of me and my siblings. So what did we do? We were able to get away (another state)...yes abducted...blah, by our Mom! I am still thanking her for that...she is my hero!
And I refer to all crazy parents who are abusive as "father" or "mother" because a true "Daddy" or Mommy" would never harm a child more or less their own.
My prayers are with the Mommy, Ricky and the Grandparents and may someone in the courts or other entity help them reunite and be safe out of harms way away from the abusive father.
May God watch over them!
Richard "Ricky" Chekevdia
Shannon Wilfong
Diane Dobbs
These questions need to be answered without a shadow of doubt. A boy's life depends on it.
We do not know that he was kept ALONE in that small room all the time, like some people have said. He may have only been in there when there was someone coming over to the house. It was said that they were not in there much.
This would not have been my choice. I would have gone somewhere where the child could have had more of a life. But I guess it depends on how much money you have.
I just know that there is no way that I would be able to live with myself if I allowed my husband to be able to continue molesting him.
Again, we don't know what the REAL facts are, so hopefully someone that knows what they are doing, and someone that actually DOES their job will investigate them both thoroughly.
You are correct i dont know how he was with them since i never knew him before he set foot on my parents property and informed me of his assignment from the military..
Exactly my point. We don't need to know what he was like with you. We need to know what he was like with THEM.
As for my comment that you found distasteful, I just figured that if everyone else could "speculate", I could too. : ) What I said about the firemen in 9/11 are all facts. A lot of firemen got involved with their fellow firemen's wives (the ones that they were supposed to be looking after), after they died. Who's to say that you aren't his lover now, or his best "bud", trying to make him look good? I mean really, we don't know who you are. Or you could be one of the many nutcases on here LYING because you are on his side.
I don't normally "speculate", but when I saw your post, it made me angry because there are so many gullible people that will believe what you are saying as FACT. They will think he is probably the greatest guy on earth, when in reality that says NOTHING as to the way he was with them.
I am not for either one. I believe that they both should be investigated THOROUGHLY. I am still waiting for the FACTS. So far there aren't many.
erasmus,
I am shocked at you being so hateful to a widow of one of our troops. You are being very hateful and that isn't your norm. Has someone hijacked your handle or are you just getting punch drunk from all the infighting here?
Ummmm, nope, it's me. : ) Once in awhile I can get carried away. I know it wasn't very nice.
I don't know why, but when I read that post, I had a hard time believing it. I'm not very trusting, I'm afraid. I thought it rather convenient.
Unless you actually live with someone, you don't really know what they are like. It made me angry that she was building him up as such a great guy. He may have been that way to her, but she really has no idea of what he was like with them.
Do you think that a wife beater, child beater, child molester, rapist, murderer, show their true colors to others? Some of the nicest people have been serial killers.
...but the fact that the dad was granted custody, not joint custody or anything he was given full rights says a lot about how the court perceived her.
The dad was granted TEMPORARY custody.
"What did she do to him, she locked him in a small box and basically kept him prisoner."
The grandmother said that THEY may have spent 5 minutes in that room. The rest of the time they were making full use of the house. The only time they were in that room was probably if someone came over.
The FACT is that there is a problem in that family. No one knows for a FACT what it is. And until they know for a FACT what it is, neither one of them should get custody of that child.
I'm not siding with either one. I don't agree with what the mother did, but I also don't know why she did what she did. Did she do it just to get even? Or did she do it to protect him? Is she the whacko? Or is he the whacko? I have always found that the whackos are the ones that look less like the whacko. You just never know. And you can't always go by what the courts say, because many times they are wrong. That goes for the media too.