Teen, 16, claims he spent week handcuffed in room

Posted: 02.12.2011 at 1:10 PM

The boy also claims it was punishment by his mother.

BERRIEN SPRINGS (AP) -- Police in southwest Michigan are investigating a 16-year-old boy's claims that he was handcuffed for a week in a tiny room with a Bible as punishment from his mother for shoplifting.

Berrien Springs-Oronoko Township Police Chief Milt Agay tells the Herald-Palladium in St. Joseph that the boy and his nine-year-old sister now are in foster care.

The newspaper reports that the boy, handcuffed to a chair, was able to drag it to a computer Tuesday where he called 911 to his Berrien Springs home, about 80 miles southwest of Grand Rapids.

Agay says the mother was picking the boy's sister up from school at the time.

The boy says he was fed, allowed to use the bathroom, and go outside to shovel snow.

The Berrien County prosecutor is reviewing the case.

---

Information from: The Herald-Palladium,

http://www.heraldpalladium.com