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By Sheila K. Stogsdill
The Oklahoman
BRAGGS - For longer than he can remember, a 4-year-old boy subsisted on ramen noodles and a makeshift oatmeal mixture and endured beatings and handcuffs, all for wetting the bed, investigators said Monday.
"This was torture," said Tim Brown, a Muskogee County sheriff's detective, who called it "the worst child abuse case I've ever seen."
The boy weighed 26 pounds when he was found June 25.
Gore police responding to an anonymous tip of neglect found the child malnourished and severely beaten. Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said the child was staying with his aunt, Sharon Smith, who was later charged in Sequoyah County in connection with the case. She is free on bail, he said.
Sheriff's deputies later searched the Smith residence in Braggs, finding a dilapidated trailer with no electricity or running water. The home had a large hole in its roof, and its bathroom contained a trash bag for holding human waste, Brown said.
The child's mother, Melanie Smith, 24, and her half-brother, Roy Albert Smith, 20, are being held without bail in the Muskogee County jail.
They are charged with child abuse, neglect and child endangerment.
"People knew this was going on and did nothing to stop it. There should be a lot of people in jail," Pearson said.
When investigators found the boy, he had "bruises upon bruises" all over his body plus open wounds on his feet, the result of dropping two, 2
The Oklahoman
BRAGGS - For longer than he can remember, a 4-year-old boy subsisted on ramen noodles and a makeshift oatmeal mixture and endured beatings and handcuffs, all for wetting the bed, investigators said Monday.
"This was torture," said Tim Brown, a Muskogee County sheriff's detective, who called it "the worst child abuse case I've ever seen."
The boy weighed 26 pounds when he was found June 25.
Gore police responding to an anonymous tip of neglect found the child malnourished and severely beaten. Muskogee County Sheriff Charles Pearson said the child was staying with his aunt, Sharon Smith, who was later charged in Sequoyah County in connection with the case. She is free on bail, he said.
Sheriff's deputies later searched the Smith residence in Braggs, finding a dilapidated trailer with no electricity or running water. The home had a large hole in its roof, and its bathroom contained a trash bag for holding human waste, Brown said.
The child's mother, Melanie Smith, 24, and her half-brother, Roy Albert Smith, 20, are being held without bail in the Muskogee County jail.
They are charged with child abuse, neglect and child endangerment.
"People knew this was going on and did nothing to stop it. There should be a lot of people in jail," Pearson said.
When investigators found the boy, he had "bruises upon bruises" all over his body plus open wounds on his feet, the result of dropping two, 2
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