Colorado Couple Charged With Whipping And Cuffing Teen

In Grand Junction, Colorado, a couple has been charged with child abuse for supposedly handcuffing a teen aged boy from morning until bedtime, whipping him with a belt and not letting him have food or use the restroom.

John Wilson, the teen's father and Kristie Moore, Wilson's girlfriend, were arrested on Thursday and are being held without any bond. They were arrested on charges of felony child abuse, complicity, sexual abuse of a child by a person in a position of trust and false imprisonment, all of which are felonies.

According to the arrest affidavit, the boy was handcuffed to a railing in the living room frequently , sometimes in the morning and would not be released until his father returned from work later that day. In some cases, the boy remained there until around 9 at night.

He would not be fed or given any water, and would not be allowed bathroom breaks, the affidavit stated. The 15 year old boy was described in July, 2006, as 5'-3" and weighing only 95 pounds.

He would often be hit with a belt the couple kept in the kitchen. According to authorities, the couple kept the keys to the handcuffs on a hook that rested above the belt.

Allegedly, Moore told investigators she would make the boy do different exercises for hours to drain him of his energy and anger .

A teen aged girl, believed to be Moore's daughter, also resided in the house but was never handcuffed. She told investigators she had been hit with the same belt. One time, for stealing food ,she was grounded for a year and made to sit at the kitchen table from the time she returned from school until she went to bed at night. She was not allowed outside or to have any contact with friends.

The affidavit also states that different family members reported the couple to the Denver Department of Human Services when they lived in the Denver area.

"But the family moved frequently and nothing was ever done," the affidavit states.

Both the children were removed from the house in July of 2006. But the affidavit doesn't explain what happened in the house from July 2006, until the affidavit was signed on April 15, 2008.

The Sheriffs office was unable to explain the time gap today.