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Ricky North (left) and Nichole North (Bell County Detention Center).
A Kentucky boy was allegedly punished and subjected to torture by his parents because he was “coloring outside of the lines” on his homework.
Ricky North, 27, and Nichole North, 24, were taken into custody on Sunday and are facing numerous felony charges, including child abuse and strangulation. The Middlesboro Police Department revealed in a Facebook announcement that the couple allegedly mistreated a 5-year-old boy by “duct taping his arm and legs,” making him endure “cold showers,” and inflicting other types of “cruel punishment.”
One form of punishment included “whipping the child for coloring outside of the lines on homework/schoolwork,” the statement said.
Authorities reported that Ricky North is the boy’s biological father, while Nichole North is his stepmother. They are also suspected of “punching and slapping him in the head and face” and “whipping” the child. Police described further shocking claims, such as “holding the child by his ankles and repeatedly slamming his head against the ground.”
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This, police say, was part of a pattern.
“The child was subjected to this torture, cruel confinement, and cruel punishment on numerous occasions while in Mr. and Mrs. North’s care,” the statement said.
Police did not provide further information on the condition or custody of the boy.
The couple were arrested Sunday and booked into the Bell County Detention Center. Following their arraignments on Monday, they were both issued a $100,000 bond and remain in custody. They were each charged with criminal child abuse, strangulation, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to report child abuse or neglect.
Both Ricky North and Nichole North are both due in court again on April 8 for preliminary hearings.
Local Fox affiliate WDKY reported that the investigation into the Norths’ child abuse case was ongoing.
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