A Minnesota couple was charged with child neglect after allegedly leaving a 5-year-old boy in the woods as punishment for wetting himself, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported.
Lynda R. Michel, 42, and Gregory A. Wilson, 32, were charged in Nicollet County District Court on Friday. Wilson, of St. Peter, was charged with neglect of a child as well as malicious punishment of a child and misdemeanor domestic assault. Michel was charged with gross misdemeanor neglect of a child, according to court documents.
The boy was found walking along a road south of St. Peter on Aug. 28, crying and wet from rain, the Star Tribune reported.
According to court documents, the boy told a Nicollet County sheriff’s deputy that he’d been dropped off by his “mom and dad” because he had been “naughty.” He said he did not know where his parents had gone or whether they were returning, according to court documents.
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That same day, authorities found Wilson and Michel, who were searching for the boy, the Star Tribune reported.
In court documents detailing charges, the boy, who is Wilson’s biological son, urinated on his clothes. The couple drove him to a secluded area and told him to get out of the vehicle, telling him “this is what happens to naughty boys.”
The couple told authorities they drove away, but then returned to search for him but were unsuccessful, the Star Tribune reported.
The couple are scheduled to appear in court Oct. 9, the newspaper reported.
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