A six-year-old boy’s family thought he was “too nice”, so decided to teach him a lesson about stranger danger. But how they did it was shocking – and it has landed them behind bars.
The boy’s mother, grandmother, aunt and an acquaintance have all been charged after allegedly staging a kidnapping, showing him a gun and threatening to sell him into sex slavery. Astonishingly, they maintain they did nothing wrong.
A sheriff’s office in Missouri, US, alleges the four-hour scare campaign was devised by the boy’s aunt, who enlisted the help of a male co-worker. The boy’s mum and grandmother then agreed to the plot, reports NBC.
It’s alleged the 23-year-old co-worker kidnapped the child after he got off his school bus and told him he would never see his mum again. The man showed the terrified boy a handgun, drove him around in his truck and then tied him up, covering his face with a jacket, when he wouldn’t stop crying.
The blindfolded boy was taken to the family’s home and put in the basement, where his aunt allegedly removed his pants and told him he could be sold into sex slavery.
After four long hours, the boy was finally taken to his family upstairs, where he was lectured about stranger danger.
His relatives told deputies they had merely wanted to educate the child. But the sheriff’s office says he was “terrorised” by the incident. The ordeal came to light after the boy talked to school officials.
All four have been charged with kidnapping and child abuse and remain in custody because they couldn’t post $250,000 bail. The boy has been removed from the home, according to NBC.
