A man accused of mistreating his 11-year-old stepson has been ordered to spend 30 nights in a dog kennel.
Prosecutors in Orange, Texas, said Curtis Lee Robin whipped Zachary Wiegers with a car antenna, made him sleep in a kennel and chop wood as punishment.
The boy later recanted the doghouse allegation, and Robin denied making him sleep outdoors - but did not dispute the other claims. He accepted a plea bargain that gave him a choice of 30 days in jail or 30 nights in a dog kennel.
He chose the kennel so that he could continue to work as a foreman at a demolition company. Robin had been due to spend his first night in the 2x3ft state-supplied kennel in his front garden yesterday. Rain was forecast. His lawyers argued he needed a bigger kennel, a sleeping bag and mosquito netting.
Judge Buddie Hahn said the state would provide a kennel about the same size as the one the boy once claimed to have slept in. Robin is allowed to sleep with either his head or feet outside, since he cannot fit all the way into the kennel. A police officer will patrol his home periodically each night to ensure he serves his sentence.
The deal also called for Robin to serve eight years' probation and pay a €650 fine. Investigators said when they first interviewed the 11-year-old in 2001, he was filthy and had mosquito bites all over his body. Pat Anzaldi, the boy's maternal grandfather, said Robin deserved the punishment. "I know Mr Robin is very concerned with mosquito netting and weather, but my grandson was not presented with the same treatment," he said. The boy, now 12, lives with his father in Florida.
AP