Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Cage boy


OK, its not okay for him to poison you and the rest of the family, but its not okay for you to put him in a feces filled dog cage.

Sheesh! Maybe she wasn't present in class when they covered the part about raising children and not putting them in dog cages.

Woman Put Grandson In Dog Crate After He Laced Drinks, Police Say
10-Year-Old's Brother Also Charged In Incident

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. -- A Washington County woman is accused of locking her 10-year-old grandson in a feces-filled dog crate for about 90 minutes.

Police said 51-year-old Rhonda Lehman, of Washington, put the boy in the crate Saturday because the boy laced the family's drinks with lamp oil and household cleaner called "Bam."

Lehman has custody of the boy, who told police he did it because "he was angry because he didn't get to go on a trip" last year, said Washington police Officer James Markley. It is possible the boy had been spiking the drinks for a while, authorities said. Family members became sick, but were not hospitalized.

Police said Lehman also told a county agency if someone didn't come for the boy, she would bury him alive in the back yard. Lehman was charged with child endangerment and making terroristic threats.

On Saturday, the boy was put in a 3-foot-by-4-foot plastic dog cage with only a small metal door for him to look out, Markley said.

The boy's 24-year-old brother, Michael McCreery, is charged with punching the youngster.

"When I asked the brother, I said, 'Why would you punch a 10-year-old in the eye?' he said, 'It's better than what I wanted to do to him,"' Markley said.

Markley said the defendants told authorities they don't believe they did anything wrong.
"They were very calm, like this was nothing," Markley said.

The 10-year-old is now in the county's Children and Youth Services, which is treating him for mental health issues, authorities said.

Lehman and McCreery remain at the Washington County Jail on $25,000 bail. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Feb. 5.