Judge denies bond for parents of 13-year-old found in false wall

ASSOCIATED PRESS

11 years ago

A 13-year-old boy missing for four years was reunited with his mother on Saturday in Jonesboro, Georgia. The teen was found hidden behind a false wall in his father’s home. (Screengrab/Reuters)

JONESBORO, Ga. — A Georgia judge has denied bond for a man and woman charged with child cruelty and false imprisonment after police found the man’s 13-year-old son hidden behind a false wall in the couple’s metro Atlanta home.

WXIA-TV reports the couple made their first court appearance at the Clayton County jail Sunday. They were arrested when police found the boy Saturday after he used a cellphone to send his mother a text message.

Police said the mother told them she reported her son missing to child welfare officials four years ago when the boy’s father wouldn’t return him after a visit. Police say they’re trying to determine who had legal custody.

Meanwhile, a judge scheduled a Dec. 9 preliminary hearing for the father and woman charged with hiding the boy.