Teen Claims He Was Locked In Closet For 4 Years

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City police have arrested two people in connection to the abuse of a 14-year-old boy.

According to police, a security guard at a National Guard facility called police on September 25 at about 5 p.m. after the teen showed up, malnourished and with multiple scars and other signs of abuse. Police arrived at the 3500 block of NE Military Circle and after speaking to the teen the Oklahoma City Police Sex Crime Unit was notified.

"There's several locations where this took place, all of them in Oklahoma City," Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Gary Knight said. "But, at all of the locations was some type of torture involved whether it was either locking him in a closet, tying him up, not feeding him. He was beaten repeatedly over this period of time, also."

The teen told police that scars on his stomach and torso were from where alcohol had been poured on him and set on fire. Other scars were from being tied up, stabbed, hit with an extension cord and choked, the boy told police.

"He had scars covering most of his body," Knight said. "They were basically from head to foot."

The teen told police he moved to the Oklahoma City area from New Jersey about 4 1/2 years ago after his mother was released from jail. Since arriving in Oklahoma, he said, he had never been to school and spent most of his time locked in a bedroom closet.

Sgt. Gary Knight said some of the most recent abuse took place in a northeast Oklahoma City apartment complex where the boy, his mother, and seven other siblings moved about 2 months ago. A sibling reportedly helped him break free from the locked closet.

El Rico Anderson lives next door. He had no idea his neighbor even had a 14-year-old boy.

“That's the worst part, I would see all her kids come out but I never seen the boy ever come outside. From what I seen, she was a good mother. She talked to her kids with respect ‘Please. Thank you. Come on guys, let's go,’” said neighbor El Rico Anderson.

“It's just unspeakable a child being treated like that, not even animals should go through that,” said neighbor Diana Harlan.

Police say at this point, they don't believe the other seven siblings were abused. They're all in state custody except for one who is an adult.

“This kid has endured a lot he's basically been tortured for four years but thankfully he was able to get free and let somebody know what was going on,” Sgt. Knight said.

The teen's mother, 37-year-old LaRhonda McCall, and her friend, 38-year-old Steve Hamilton, were arrested and booked into the Oklahoma County jail on 20 counts of child abuse and child neglect. Both are being held on $400,000 bond.