GENEVA TWP., MI (WHTC) - An 11-year-old South Haven area boy apparently had a good reason to run away, and two persons who may have led him to escape from his home are facing charges.
Sheriff’s Deputies were called to County Road 380 east of County Road 681 around 2:30 on Tuesday morning on a report of the child walking alone on the roadway in the middle of the night. The boy told deputies that he had been physically abused and was running away. Authorities did determine probable cause and went to the youth’s 60th Street home, where they arrested his mother's 28-year-old boyfriend, along with the suspect's 46-year-old mother. A two-year-old boy, a sibling of the victim who had not been assaulted, along with the victim were removed by Children’s Protective Services.
Yesterday, Randall and Peggy Hamilton were arraigned in South Haven District Court on torture and first-degree child abuse charges and ordered held on a million dollars bond each. According to Van Buren County Sheriff's Sergeant Dennis Harvey, "Further information provided by investigators during the prelim was that the 11-year-old victim had been nailed to the floor of the home by these subjects utilizing (aluminum) plumbers tape to keep secured and not able to move for several hours at a time. The child also was found to be extremely malnourished."
The investigation continues, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.