Detroit boy found in basement says his home was "terrible"
DETROIT - A Detroit boy who was missing for 11 days before he was found in his father's basement last summer testified at a hearing that his home was a "terrible place" where he was beaten with a plastic pipe.
Thirteen-year-old Charlie Bothuell V also testified Tuesday that he was forced to rise before dawn for two-hour workouts.
The boy testified against his father and stepmother. A judge must decide whether there's enough evidence to send the dad, Charlie Bothuell IV, and stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell, to trial on charges of torture and child abuse.
The judge ended the hearing for the day before the younger Charlie was asked about his disappearance last June.
The case unfolded last June after Bothuell IV called police to report his son, then 12, missing from their home.
The boy was found by authorities 11 days later hiding behind boxes in the basement of the father's home.
When the boy was found alive, the elder Bothuell was in the middle of a live TV interview with Nancy Grace. He was speechless when Grace said his son was discovered in the basement of his home.
According to court documents, the boy told authorities at the time that his stepmother had sent him to the basement.
In February, the boy's father and stepmother were charged with torture and child abuse in the case.
Prosecutors have said Charlie V was physically abused and forced to live in the basement and wasn't allowed to socialize. They also say he was deprived of food and forced to engage in an "extreme and unreasonable exercise regime."
The father and stepmother, however, deny any abuse took place. The defense has tried to paint the boy as a liar who came and went as he pleased.
At the hearing Tuesday, Charlie Bothuell V testified he often got a "whooping" with a stick or PVC pipe on his buttocks. He said most of the alleged abuse took place at the hands of his father, although he said his stepmother beat him a few times as well.
"Sometimes she would punch me, and I got choked once," he said, according to CBS Detroit.
The boy, who was home-schooled starting in 2012, also said his father would threaten to send him to an out-of-state military school at times.
The boy said the expectations at this father's home were "absolutely ridiculous," according to the station.
He described a form of punishment he referred to as "reaching for excellence," in which he says he was forced to stand with his arms up for an extended period of time. If he complained, he said he was told to "shut up" and would get a whopping if he didn't stop talking, reports the station.
When asked to describe how he felt while he was living with his father and stepmother, the boy said, "Depressed, sad; I just wanted to go home to my mom. It was a terrible place to be."
According to the station, the 13-year-old also testified that he once ran away with the intention of going to his aunt's house. Instead, he said, he ended up just wandering around for two or three hours until police officers took him home.
He also testified that in May of last year, he was "so depressed and sad and upset" about being at his father's house that he once tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrist.
The boy will return to the stand when the hearing resumes May 6. He is currently in the custody of his biological mother.