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DETROIT (AP) — In a story Feb. 27 about a judge reducing the bond amounts for a Detroit couple charged with torture and child abuse, The Associated Press misspelled a defense attorney's last name. His name is Farris F. Haddad, not Farris F. Hadded.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Bonds reduced for father, stepmother in boy-in-basement case
Bonds lowered for father, stepmom charged with child abuse after boy found in Detroit basement
DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Friday reduced the bonds for a Detroit father and stepmother charged with torture and child abuse after the man's missing son was found among boxes in the basement of their townhome.
Bonds for Charlie Bothuell IV and Monique Dillard-Bothuell were cut from $500,000 to $50,000 by 36th District Court Judge Shannon Holmes who also ordered them to wear GPS tethers if released from jail.
Holmes said the couple is to have no contact with children.
Charlie Bothuell V was 12 last June when police found him after a highly publicized 11-day search. His parents had reported him missing. His father appeared stunned on live TV when told that the boy had been found in his basement.
Prosecutors have said the boy was "very thin, with marks on his upper body."
The father and stepmother have denied any abuse, although the elder Bothuell told state investigators last year that he had struck his son with a PVC pipe. His parental rights to Charlie were recently terminated, and two of his other children are in foster care.
Prosecutors charged the couple last week.
"It is alleged that the parents systematically physically abused the child, forced him to live in the basement and not socialize with others, intentionally deprived him of food and forced him to engage in an extreme and unreasonable exercise regimen," the prosecutor's office said in a statement after their arrests.
A preliminary examination is scheduled for March 27.
"Everything will come out in court. These charges are absolutely ludicrous," Charlie Bothuell IV's lawyer, Farris F. Haddad, told reporters after Friday's hearing.
A hearing also will be held March 6 to discuss whether Bothuell can afford to pay for his own defense.
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