Parents Arrested for Whipping and Handcuffing Teenage Son
In Grand Junction, Colorado, John Wilson, 40, and Kristie Moore, 35, were charged with felony child abuse for handcuffing Wilson’s 15-year-old son to a rail in the living room. They also whipped the teenager with a belt and denying him food and bathroom breaks. Moore is Wilson’s live-in girlfriend and police consider her the boy’s stepmother.
The couple 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 these charges are felonies and they are both being held without bond.
They would also beat the boy with a black belt the couple kept in the kitchen. Above the belt on a hook the couple kept the keys to the handcuffs. On time, Wilson kicked his handcuffed son in his groin. He would also make the teen do jumping jacks and stair stepping for hours to burn off his energy and anger.
Moore’s 16-year-old daughter was also abused. She told police she had been struck with the same black belt. She was grounded for a year and forced to sit at the kitchen table from the time she returned from school until she went to bed at night for stealing food. Also, she was not allowed outside or to have contact with friends.
Records show that family members reported the couple to the Denver Department of Human Services. Since the family moved nothing was done. The teens were removed from the house in July 2006. But records don’t show what happened after that.
In fact, there’s a huge gap and a delay in follow up and arrest. Two more kids who have fallen through the cracks. How sad.
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POSTED IN: Abuse, Neglect, Starvation
16 opinions for Parents Arrested for Whipping and Handcuffing Teenage Son
rockdoll_71
Apr 26, 2008 at 2:54 pm
What a couple of idiots. I think they should be handcuffed to a rail and denied food and bathroom breaks. Assholes….
HesMySonShine
Apr 26, 2008 at 4:52 pm
I am having trouble comprehending the mind set of stealing food. wtf is that about? That’s the same thing Nixamary Brown’s step father (in NYC) claimed about her stealing a yogurt when she was hungry and denied food - then he beat her to death. I can’t comprehend monitoring the food in my house and whether or not my son is stealing any.
Growing up my siblings and I were beaten with a belt so I know how it feels. I do not do that to my son but prefer the ‘time out’ approach. If he’s done something that could truly endanger him then I might swat him on the butt but never anything further than that.
My heart breaks for these kids because they aren’t young enough to where this damage could maybe be undone by a loving family and home. They are both close to being of legal age themselves and this is something that will follow them forever into any and all relationships they have in the future.
As for the respective parents of each child, I hope that they get their just punishments and that their parental rights are forever terminated.
endersdragon
Apr 28, 2008 at 3:28 am
I have to agree that we need to find a way to abuse these parents half as bad as they abused there kid. Well I will find some solece in knowing that the dad will get raped daily in prision (sure hope they place him with Bubba) and I have heard females have it even worse. Thats nice.
jaleja
Apr 28, 2008 at 12:51 pm
SonShine,
I so agree. I can’t wrap my mind around a child “stealing” food from the family refrigerator. My Mom always kept fruit and carrots and such in the fridge, and always a bowl of unshelled nuts of some sort on the table, and if we were hungry, we could eat whatever we wanted (unless it was right before mealtime, that is). I did the same with my daughters. A child “stealing” food in their own home is a statment that totally baffles me.
umi
Apr 28, 2008 at 5:50 pm
In some households there is not enough money for the children to eat whatever they want whenever they want. Food consumption was closely monitored in my family when I was growing up. My dad supported four kids and two adults on a pretty meager wage, and if my parents didn’t tell us kids what we could eat and when, we’d have been in even bigger financial trouble than we were. We couldn’t afford fresh fruits and veggies to leave out on the table or in the fridge (in my state only the poorest receive food program benefits for produce, so food stamps wouldn’t have helped)…and I’m not yet 30 years old so it’s not like I’m telling you a story about Depression-era America here.
Poverty doesn’t justify beating the hell out of your kids with a belt, in my opinion, but I was constantly in trouble for sneaking food when I was a kid. In fact, I got grounded for several months at a time for taking food without permission.
jaleja
Apr 29, 2008 at 6:50 am
umi,
Povertly doesn’t justify restricting your children’s food, either.
There were five in my family, Dad, Mom, my two brothers and me.
Dad was in the armed forces and was not an officer, Mom was a stay at home Mom.
So, we had one income for 5 people, and my Mom still had fresh fruits, veggies, and unshelled nuts for us for snacks. We were growing and we got hungry, and we were allowed to eat what we needed to.
“Stealing” food was something my parents would not have understood, either, and my Dad in particular, grew up dirt-poor.
4dakidz
Apr 29, 2008 at 7:28 am
Umi,
I totally understand where you are coming from, when I was growing up my stepfather and mother monitored our intake of food also. But it sounds like the difference is your parents felt they had to due to the financial impact of feeding a large family. I feel that my “parents” did this to us more as a control mechanism than due to lack of money. My stepfather owned a nice house near the beach and had a decent income. He used our hunger as a way to manipulate and punish us. As a result I have a very strict ” no food monitoring” rule at my house. I don’t want my kids to ever feel excessively hungry or feel that they are a burden to me. I love them with all of my heart and when I became a parent I made a commitment to myself and God to do my best. And though far from perfect I try to keep my children in the forefront of my mind and try to also remember that when God blessed me with them I made a promise I am no longer the most important person in my life, they are. Those two “parents” are sick sadistic SOB’s that deserve to be punished to the full extent of the law and thank God they were caught. How dare they starve anyone they look like they haven’t missed a meal in a while? My prayers go out to that brave little boy (I know he’s fifteen,) who must’ve found it difficult to trust anyone after the betrayal he has been dealt.
By the way it feels great to be in the company of such great, concerned parents even if opinions differ at times there is one common factor that brings us together, the children
umi
Apr 29, 2008 at 1:37 pm
jaleja: Well, you are lucky your parents did not have to monitor your food for financial reasons. I didn’t say “restrict,” I said “monitor.” The difference is we ate what we needed to eat to be healthy. I was an obstinate kid and I took food without asking often because I wasn’t supposed to. You said you didn’t understand how a child could steal food in his own house, and I tried to give you some insight. You can do whatever you want with the information I gave you.
4dakidz: I try not to judge people based on what I read about them in the news, since you only get such a tiny part of the whole picture. It’s hard to avoid judging people who wind up on this site because the things they are reported to do are so incomprehensible to me. It’s not like I’ve never been so angry that I wanted to hit someone, but there’s a big difference between feeling like doing something and actually doing it. It’s like these people don’t get that for some reason. Plus a lot of the things they come up with are so crazy…handcuffing your kid to a rail? Putting a baby in the microwave? How does a human being even come up with the idea to do something like that? I don’t understand it, which is probably another good reason to suspend judgement. Regardless of any logical reasons I can come up with NOT to judge them, I can’t help but think they’re crazy, sadistic assholes. :/
And yeah, I feel for that kid. It sounds like the girl’s abuse was mostly psychological, but the boy got beat with both sides of the nasty stick. I hope the state gives him some therapy but they probably won’t.
April RJ
Apr 30, 2008 at 8:16 pm
jaleja - I have to agree! If someone is so damn broke that they have to monitor the children’s food intake - they should NOT have children. Shit!
That’s beside the point. I believe that the parents in this story are just flat out assholes. I hope the children NEVER have to see them again.
April RJ
Apr 30, 2008 at 8:16 pm
BTW - I missed you all!
Marisande
May 2, 2008 at 8:51 am
Abhorrent physical abuse aside, I also can’t get my head around “stealing” food from home. Jaleja is right, poverty is never an excuse to deny your children food. In my personal experience as both an impoverished child and a care worker, people who don’t have enough money for food seem to have hidden reserves for buying cigarettes and cable TV. I also don’t buy any crap about “parents needing stuff too” - when you have kids, the kids come first. Also - BS about fresh fruit and veg - creative parents can grow carrots and potatoes in a bag of potting soil on a back deck. Fruit markets sell seconds. So do bakeries. I’ve learned plenty form the mistakes of others. My own children get the freshest, best food I can get for them. I don’t need fancy shoes, or perfume, or cigarettes or booze - my kids need food for their bodies and brains. That’s called prioritizing. As for these parents, oh, why don’t we have hard labour camps? With ice cold pressure washing at the end of the day? and moldy black bread?
4dakidz
May 2, 2008 at 9:56 am
Not to defend anyone b/c as I have said before there is a strict no monitoring food policy in my home but there were many, many times when my son was younger (and I was struggling) when he would make food and then not want it throw it away and five minutes later go back for something else. I have found many snacks barely eaten in the trash. So when I discovered this I decided I would make him the food myself so he wouldn’t ruin it and not want it and waste money that I didn’t really have. I would pour the milk in the cereal so he wouldn’t overpour. As he grew older he became more cautious the less I had to help. I would also eat a lot of uneaten snacks. Since the snacks in my house are strictly for the kids only it was my only chance to snack. So I tried to make the best out of a bad situation.
As parents we do want we can with what we have and being poor is not an excuse to deny children food but it could be a reason not to allow unneccesary wasting of food.
We shouldn’t judge people so harshly who are doing the best they can. None of us are perfect and all of us including me could improve in many areas of our parenting skills. Maybe offering insight and kind advice would be more suitable for parents who are basically good people but dont’ handle certain situations correctly. If we can not agree to disagree w/o making others feel bad no one will benefit from the great advice. When we offend people they automatically don’t listen to what we are trying to convey. In my experience as a clinical professional I notice when I my co-workers offend the patients they don’t really get very far. I try a different approach and speak to them as I would want someone to speak to me. Even if I want to scream you are an idiot I don’t b/c two wrongs don’t make it right.
But the sad part is that Marisande is ABSOLUTELY right most parents make their kids suffer for their own selfish reasons and yes cable, ciggarettes, drugs, men are the main reasons, I see it EVERYDAY. These sorry bastards should really be spayed/nuetered LOL. And there are times when we have to rude to get the point across some people don’t understand kindness.
Bottom line please stop having kids if you are not willing to sacrafice your happiness for theirs.
CanadianMom
May 2, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Oh man, the kids can’t eat or pee? Convicted felons live better than that.
4dakidz, I hear what you’re saying about monitoring the eating habits of children. Mine do not have free reign of the fridge, either, but if they’re hungry, feed ‘em. We as parents know when they ate last, and we know when the next meal will be ready. So it’s easy to tell if they are actually hungry, or *you can wait for dinner* as the saying goes at our house.
If my sons had their way, they would snack all day, and have no meals. Obviously I do not allow that, but if for some reason lunch or dinner will be late, of course, grab an apple or a bagel to hold you over.
When I was young, my Mom monitored what we were eating as well, because we were poor. We always had fresh fruits and vegetables in the house, and milk and cheese and eggs, etc. But we were not allowed to eat it all in 2 days either. We had a grocery budget, and every week it comes back, but she wanted to make sure the stuff we had lasted till next grocery day. Seems logical to me. Free reign on food sounds like an eating disorder waiting to happen. Or a harsh wake up call when hard times come around. Just MHO.
I wonder if the boy doesn’t get to eat, I bet that cuts back on bathroom breaks anyway, so it works out better for them. (j/k.)
One more thought. If the big sis was “free” ie, not cuffed to something, why not grab the cuff key when Mom and Dad are worshipping the devil, and get your brother the eff outta there? That is what I would have done.
4dakidz
May 5, 2008 at 4:59 am
Canadian mom,
Good point, how could she just sit back and watch them toture him like that? I guess everyone handles situations like that different. I just don’t get the selfishness of human nature. How could she sleep or eat knowing the horrible ordeal he was going through? My sisters and I fought constantly and I’d be damn if I could see something like this go down w/o putting up a big stink. They’d have to tie me up too.
Kitty
May 8, 2008 at 7:06 am
Food was monitored at my house because my family has a problem with obesity. We could have as much fruit and veggies as we wanted (and yes, we were on government assistance–my mom gardened), but we were not allowed to have sugar or baked goods or anything fatty whenever we wanted because she was concerned about our health.
And yes, we did get in trouble for sneaking into a cupboard and stealing desserts. No grounding, mind you. Just a sad look and an “I’m so very disappointed” lecture.
umi
May 9, 2008 at 10:22 pm
It seems you are misinterpreting what I am saying.
Kids should be able to eat when they are hungry. In my house, we did. However, we were not allowed free access to food because we didn’t have enough money to be able to afford that. We ate canned vegetables at dinner and we ate fruit in our school lunches (we were on a free lunch program). FRESH fruit and vegetables were too expensive for my family, so we got canned. I grew up to be healthy, so they must have done something right. As for growing your own vegetables, come ON. Who’s going to do that? I don’t even do that and I’m a total hippie. It seems like you’re going out of your way to paint a very negative picture of my family, and in my opinion that is silly since your anger could be more appropriately directed at people who, for example, chain their children to rails.
I am NOT an advocate of denying children food when they are hungry. I do not think people should be disqualified from having kids just because they don’t have much money. Most of the families in my neighborhood were poor and most of them were also happy and healthy. I’m sure they weren’t perfect, but I challenge you to find me a perfect family in any income bracket. Some of the most dysfunctional people I know are also the most affluent. Should I decide that rich people make bad parents? That seems silly to me, too. I think bad people make bad parents and it’s that simple. Being poor does not make you a bad person.
My parents loved us and gave us what we needed to be happy and healthy. If the only complaint against a family is that they’re poor I’d think you guys would be happy about that. Being poor does not constitute abuse. Not all poor people abuse their children.
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