PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — The mother and stepfather of a 21-year-old man with a genetic disability that prevents him from speaking are accused of beating, binding and caging him.
News outlets report 40-year-old Christina Boyles and 39-year-old Herbert Boyles, of Parkersburg, West Virginia, were arrested and charged Tuesday with abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult. A Parkersburg Police Department release says officers investigating reports of abuse last month found the son malnourished with wounds from restraints.
A criminal complaint says he also had cysts on his pelvic area, possibly from lying on a hard surface for a while, and sores on other parts of his body. It says the victim's adult brother told authorities his brother was starved, bound, caged and sprayed all over his body with chemicals.
It's unclear if the Boyles have lawyers.