Eastern Iowa family chained child to weight.
According to the Peosta authorities, three adults were recently taken into custody and charged with child endangerment, after the police discovered they’d chained a child to weight in order to stop him from running away from home. One of the defendants pled guilty to the charge, telling the jury that he only fashion the chain attached to the weight.
Iowa Family Chains Child to Weight
An Eastern Iowa Court was recently faced with a most unusual case. According to court documents, three individual, identified by the authorities as being Cynthia Kobusch, Michael Kobusch, and Jeffrey Merfeld, are accused of child endangerment with resulted in bodily harm. Merfeld, Cynthia’s brother, declared before the magistrates that he didn’t consider himself guilty of any crime and went ahead in order to clear his name.
According to the authorities, the three individuals were taken into custody, after a child was discovered chained to a big weight in Cynthia and Michael’s house. The large weight was attached to the boy’s waist and secured with a robust padlock. The suspects’ testimonies reveal that this seemingly Medieval system had been devised by the boy’s uncle at the request of his parent.
Cynthia Said She Wanted a GPS Collar for Her Son
Cynthia and Michael told the authorities that the child had severe behavior issue and, as a result, he ran away from home on more than one occasion. The couple told the jury and the magistrates that all their attempts of disciplining the child were fruitless and that they sought alternative ways to teach him that running away from your problems is not an answer.
Jeffrey declared that one day, his sister approached him and explained that he wanted to get his son a GPS collar. However, the woman said that her son could easily take off such a device and asked the boy’s uncle to fashion a chain strong enough so that the boy can’t break it
After the man had created the metal chain, he gave it to the boy’s parent. But, instead of using it to install the GPS collar, the couple attached it to a heavy weight and chained the boy to it. Moreover, to make sure that he will not run away from home, they’ve secured the chain with a padlock.
During his hearing, the child’s uncle pleaded guilty to the charge of child endangerment with resulted in bodily harm and told the court that he merely provided the chain, and was not informed about how it will be used.
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