Father and stepmother charged with torture and abuse after they ‘locked 12-year-old son in basement for 11 days’ and claimed he was missing

Prosecutors have brought torture and child abuse charges against the father and stepmother of a 12-year-old Detroit boy who was found in his father’s basement last year after an 11-day disappearance. Charles Bothuell IV, 46, and Monique Dillard-Bothuell, 37, systematically physically abused the child, forced him to live in the basement and didn’t allow him to socialize, Wayne County prosecutors said. The boy, Charlie Bothuell V, was found by police in the basement of his family’s condominium on June 25, 2014, – 11 days after he was reported missing by his father and stepmom. Detroit police arrested the Bothuells this morning, the prosecutor’s office said. They have each been charged with one count of torture, punishable by up to life in prison, and second-degree child abuse, which carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison. READ MORE HERE