UNNAMED BOY - 9 yo - Galveston TX

Runaway boy in foster care after claiming parents kept him in box

by Larry Seward / KHOU 11 News
Posted on August 4, 2012 at 6:20 PM
Updated Monday, Aug 6 at 10:46 AM

GALVESTON, Texas – A 9-year-old boy was placed in foster care after police found evidence that he may have been confined to a box by his parents.

Two weeks ago, the boy disappeared from his house. Police and neighbors searched for three hours before locating him.

"I saw a police officer come by here and I said, 'Is there anything wrong?" said Marcy Ayala, a neighbor. "He said, 'We’re looking for a little boy.'"

"We saw,like, three police cars there and I said, 'Something is wrong,'" said Harold Rowland, another neighbor.

The boy told police that he had run away from home and the reasons he gave compelled investigators to dig deeper.

Galveston police declined to comment, but a CPS spokesperson said the boy complained that he was confined to a plywood box at home.

The Galveston Daily News reports that police searched the boy’s house for evidence of child pornography and accused the boy’s father of using a cell phone to take a naked picture of his son, according to an affidavit filed by CPS.

In July, the boy told a child advocate his father and stepmother used a marker to write words such as "liar" and "thief" on his arm while he was naked in the room, reported the Daily News. Police also seized shackles with handcuff keys, drug paraphernalia, cell phones and computer equipment.

"No kid deserves to be treated like that,. period," said Nina Fernandez, another neighbor.

"A child shouldn’t have to go through nothing like that," Rowland said. "There’s not a child in the world that should have to go through that."

Rowland said he and his girlfriend sensed trouble weeks ago when she found the boy sitting on a curb behind a parked pick-up truck.

"My girl [walked] over there and asked him is he OK and he said yeah I’m OK," Rowland said.　 "But, the way he was sitting there tucked up with his arms around his legs, sitting on the ground, you could just tell [something was wrong]."

http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Runaway-says-he-was-kept-in-box-165022276.html

CPS: Galveston boy removed from home after being forced to stay in a box

By Anita Hassan and Carol Christian
Updated 12:55 a.m., Sunday, August 5, 2012

A 9-year-old Galveston boy who ran away last month is in foster care after authorities say they discovered he was kept locked in a small room and may have been photographed inappropriately.

The boy was missing for a few hours July 22 before police found him and took him back home. That's when Child Protective Services got involved, said spokeswoman Estella Olguin.

"We got the call once the police found him and took him back home and discovered his living conditions," she said. "We took emergency custody that same day."

According to a court affidavit for a search warrant, the boy's father took a Galveston police officer to a laundry or utility room, telling them it was his son's bedroom. Inside, police saw what appeared to be an 8-by-6-foot particle-board box, as well as a small blanket and a pair of socks, court records state.

The boy's father told police he kept the child locked inside the room, court records state.

Olguin said the boy lived at the home with his father, stepmother and two adult siblings.

During an interview with a child advocate, the boy told them this his father and stepmother took a permanent marker and wrote words such as "liar" and "thief" on his body while he was naked in his room, court records state.

He said his father took a picture of him on his cellphone in that state, telling the boy he would post it to a social media website, according to court records.

A CPS caseworker told police that when she spoke to the boy's father he admitted to writing on the child's arms with marker.

Police received a warrant to search the house for evidence of child pornography. Officers recovered drug paraphernalia, shackles with a handcuff key, several cellphones and computer equipment, court records state.

The boy's biological mother, who lives out of state, came to Galveston when she found out her son was in foster care, Olguin said.

"We did meet with the mom," she said. "The child will remain in foster care at least until she can provide a safe home for him."

Because she lives out of state, CPS must ask the other state to do a study of her home and a background check, she said.

"We have to make sure he's going to a safe home," she said.

CPS is scheduled to provide the 306th State District Court an update on the boy's status in September, Olguin said.

Authorities have not announced any charges in the case.

Galveston police declined to comment on the case, spokesman Lt. Michael Gray said Saturday.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/CPS-Galveston-boy-removed-from-home-after-being-3763121.php