Update July 14, 2013
The parents accused of handcuffing a 7-year-old boy to restrain him from getting up in the middle of the night and taken items have been arrested.
Thomas O’Brien, 37, and Tonya Bengston, 36, have been charged with child neglect. O’Brien faces an additional charge of child abuse.
O’Brien’s bond was set at $7,500 and Bengston’s at $5,000. Both are expected back in court on September 26.
Original Story – July 8, 2013
The Logan County Sheriff’s Office received noticed that a 7-year-old boy was possibly being handcuffed and restrained inside a home. Now, two people could be facing child neglect charges following a two-week investigation.
On June 24, the Sheriff’s Office received a call for service at 3321 North Midwest Blvd after someone had reported a child may have been handcuffed in the home.
Deputies arrived and found five children in the residence and was being supervised by a 16-year-old sibling while the parents were at work.
Investigators learned the 7-year-old boy was having behavioral issues at school and home with theft and taking food.
“The child was a victim of a prior abusive household, and is living in the home with his mother,” Captain Richard Stephens said in a statement. “The parents had chosen to restrain the child with handcuffs as a means to control the child.”
Along with the Sheriff Investigators, a Department of Human Services Child Welfare Case Worker responded to the scene. DHS initiated an investigation and has made a placement in the case.
Charges were presented to the Logan County District Attorney’s Office on July 8 against Thomas Robert Obrien, 37, and Tonya Geneice Bengtson, 36.
The charges presented are: Child Neglect Title 21 §843.5(C). Any parent or other person who shall willfully or maliciously engage in child neglect shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment.
As used in this subsection, “child neglect” means the willful or malicious neglect, as defined by paragraph 47 of Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes, of a child under eighteen (18) years of age by another.
Nail these parents to the wall! Handcuffs are not a method of discipline for a child that is stealing food to fill his belly! What kind of effed up people are doing this to their babies? When I lived in OK, I cannot tell you how many times I saw in a child’s eyes that something horrible was taking over their lives. You crazy backwoods bastards! Many OK people would be as sickened about this as I am.
@sheldingbing……
PROVERBS 21:23
WATCH YOUR WORDS AND HOLD YOUR TONGUE; YOU’LL SAVE YOURSELF ALOT GRIEF.
Have you ever considered publishing an ebook or guest authoring on other websites?
I have a blog based upon on the same topics you discuss and would
love to have you share some stories/information. I know my subscribers would appreciate
your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel
free to send me an e mail.
Hello there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering
which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting sick
and tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.