Detroit boy was abused, harshly disciplined: state petition

By Kevin Murphy (Reuters) - A 12-year-old Detroit boy found in his basement 11 days after being reported missing was ordered by his father to do heavy workouts twice a day and was beaten with plastic piping, according to court documents. Charlie Bothuell V's workouts, in the morning and evening, included 100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 100 jumping jacks, 25 arm curls on each arm with 25-pound weights and thousands of revolutions on an elliptical trainer, the court documents said. "Charlie V reports having to complete the entire workout 'in under an hour or I would have to do it again,'" a petition filed in juvenile court by a state agency said. Bouthell told investigator he could not finish the workouts sometimes because he was in pain from being struck on the feet with the PVC pipe, the petition said. The boy, who lived with his father and step-mother, was reported missing on June 14, triggering a widespread police search. Several searches of his house came up empty, but he was found alive in the basement after 11 days. State police and FBI agents found him shivering and hungry and "barricaded behind boxes and totes that concealed his presence," the state petition said. The petition filed in Wayne County juvenile court said doctors found scars or wounds on his chest and buttocks from the pipe and the boy has said his step-mother verbally and emotionally abused him and punched him. His father, Charlie Bothuell IV, and step-mother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell, are under investigation, but have not been charged in the case. The state agency wants to deny his father parental rights. A juvenile court referee on Thursday ordered the boy to undergo a psychological evaluation and counseling. He has been released into his mother's care and his father's visitation rights have been suspended. Charlie Bothuell IV could not be reached immediately for comment about the allegations. He told television reporters in June he searched for his son when he was missing and did not know how he became hidden in the basement. Bothuell has denied abusing he boy, according to the Detroit Free Press. The step-mother's lawyer, Mark Magidson, could not be reached for comment, but the Free Press quoted Magidson on Thursday as saying she did not harm her stepson. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by David Bailey and Eric Walsh)