A Detroit boy, who was found in his father’s basement last month after an extensive and public search for him, has alleged that he was abused at the hands of his father.
The Detroit Free Press reported that Charlie Bothuell V told authorities that he had to complete workouts which consisted of 100 pushups, 200 sit-ups and 100 jumping jacks twice a day, every day. He also said that he had to lift 25-pound weights and do 25 curls on each arm as well as thousands of revolutions on an elliptical machine.
According to the Associated Press, Michigan's child-welfare agency filed the allegations and said that the 12-year-old was hit with a plastic pipe by his father and forced to do the workouts.
In the petition, the state is looking to terminate the parental rights of the boy’s father and his stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell.
The young boy was found in the basement after an 11-day search for him. When told the news on live TV, his father appeared to be in shock that his son was found there, however, now the boy claims that his father ordered him down there.
The child said that when his stepmother came down the basement she would tell him to "shut up, stay quiet, and don't say anything, no matter what you hear!"
Neither of the adults have been charged with any crime yet as the allegations are still being investigated.