OKLAHOMA CITY – The sister of an Oklahoma boy who says his mother locked him in apartment closets over four years said Thursday she would bring her brother food, but would tell him not to chew because their mother would check his teeth to see whether he had eaten.

Jaleasa McCall, 18, told The Associated Press that her mother beat, whipped, choked and tied up her 14-year-old brother, often locking him away for days at a time.

She said she would bring her brother food and sympathy, but couldn't summon the courage to call police.

"He was losing a lot of weight. Some days he would be pale from being in there so long," McCall said. "He would really start to smell and stuff. It looked to me like he was losing hope."

The mother, LaRhonda McCall, 37, and a friend, Steven Hamilton, 38, are jailed on 20 complaints each of child abuse and child neglect after the boy, malnourished and covered in bruises and scars, sought help from a security guard at a National Guard armory last Friday. A police affidavit says both acknowledged beating the boy and that he often was locked in a closet. Jail officials do not know of an attorney for either.

LaRhonda McCall was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in New York in 1996 in the death of her 2-year-old daughter and served six months jail time. Prosecutors in that case alleged McCall, who then went by LaRhonda Presley, essentially starved the toddler who died in February 1995, according to a New York grand jury indictment obtained by the AP.

Jaleasa McCall was 4 years old at the time and said Thursday that she doesn't remember her sister, but said she and her brother went to live with a cousin in New Jersey for several years after their mother was convicted. She said she moved to Oklahoma to live with her mother in 2007, a couple years after her brother moved to the state.

She said at first she saw no mistreatment by her mother, but that LaRhonda McCall eventually starting abusing the eldest of seven younger brothers and sisters. Jaleasa McCall said the beatings became worse over time and that her mother and Hamilton started accusing the boy of stealing, tying him up and locking him in a bedroom closet for five days at a time or more.

"When my mom wasn't home or when she would go to work, I would try to get him out so he could get washed up and give him some food until it was time to get him put back in there," Jaleasa McCall said.

She said she eventually realized the punishments had become abusive, but she feared what might happen to her other siblings if she called authorities.

"Some days, if it got really rough, I would go to the phone and pick it up, but then I'd put it back down because I'd be too scared," she said. "I was basically scared and afraid. I didn't really care about what would happen to me, but it was my brothers and sisters I was mostly worried about."

McCall said she and her brother had gotten into an argument last Friday while there mother was at work.

"We were trying to get the house cleaned up so she wouldn't yell and scream at us," she said. "That's when he just said, 'I can't take this anymore,' and he just left. He walked out of the door."

The boy wandered about a mile-and-half to the military facility. Security guards at the base said the boy was covered with scars and bruises and that his hands had deep cuts.

Managers at the last two apartments where the family lived have said they never saw the boy. One manager said that after the family was evicted for not paying bills, she found a hole in the wall of a closet filled with human waste.

The 14-year-old and the six other minor children, who range in age from 1 to 12, are in custody of the Department of Human Services, police said. Jaleasa McCall said she's not aware any of the children attended school.

McCall said she's glad her siblings are safe, but acknowledged mixed feelings about her mother's fate.

"They deserve what they get, but then again, that's my mother. I love her," McCall said. "As for what she should get, that's up to Oklahoma."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_re_us/us_child_imprisoned

That's the kind of thing I don't really want to know about

I agree but people needs to know. What do you think about her punishment for killing her baby and then only getting six months in jail, Then gets out and does that to her son.

Two failures on the children's part:
Not speaking up. Abuse is abuse. They teach you this in school, and they show you this on TV. It's human nature to argue about something that does not feel right. In addition, when the child did notice that it was abuse (unless this article is bias, it was always abuse in my book), they shouldn't have worried about the others. Another prime example of selfishness and lack of integrity.
"But she's my mother and I love her". I'm sorry but that level of cruelty doesn't quite deserves a child's love, or a child at that.

And as for the six month's thing, a court actually decided on that ruling. That means at least sixteen people agreed to that kind of punishment. Nice and twisted society, eh, America?

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/undated-police-mug-photo-provided-Oklahoma-County-Sheriff-Office-Larhonda/photo//090928/480/a05fec01b81d47d0a5f20a2460fffa40//s:/ap/20091002/ap_on_re_us/us_child_imprisoned

The face of a criminal mastermind >.>

I think describing someone who can do that to a child as a mastermind is giving them WAY too much undeserved credit.

Child abuser and criminal mastermind are two completely different things. Criminal masterminds are smart. Child abusers are usually quite dumb.

I agree but people needs to know. What do you think about her punishment for killing her baby and then only getting six months in jail, Then gets out and does that to her son.

It's just another normal day in america.

Lol. sorry >.>

It's just another normal day in america.

Make that Earth, or Western world to be more precise. Crap like this isn't America only, unfortunately. Although the US seems to be leading, not that that's something to be proud of XD

Two failures on the children's part:
Not speaking up. Abuse is abuse. They teach you this in school, and they show you this on TV. It's human nature to argue about something that does not feel right. In addition, when the child did notice that it was abuse (unless this article is bias, it was always abuse in my book), they shouldn't have worried about the others. Another prime example of selfishness and lack of integrity.
"But she's my mother and I love her". I'm sorry but that level of cruelty doesn't quite deserves a child's love, or a child at that.

And as for the six month's thing, a court actually decided on that ruling. That means at least sixteen people agreed to that kind of punishment. Nice and twisted society, eh, America?

So easy to say those kind of things, and point out other teenagers/young adults that did the "courageous and right" things. But we aren't in her shoes, and she is neither the abuser nor would I consider her any kind of enabler. I can't even comprehend how someone can call that boy's sister selfish. Yes, there were many things she could have done to stop it from the start, but there are lots of things a lot of people can do to stop a lot of things, and yet things go on. It wasn't in her ability, mentally, to do what was "right". She says a bunch of times, she was scared. I mean, she at least summoned enough courage to tend to her brother, without getting in conflict with her mother. Keep in mind she is only four years older then her brother; they are both still young.


Make that Earth, or Western world to be more precise. Crap like this isn't America only, unfortunately. Although the US seems to be leading, not that that's something to be proud of XD

True, but America sticks out from many other countries in that we don't care as a whole. It's become a passing occurrence, all the murders, rapes, abductions, so frequent it seems the country as a whole has become desensitized.

I remember reading about an old Austrian guy only a year or two ago, who locked up his daughter in the basement of his home, raping and impregnated her multiple times over years. The thing that stuck out to me the most was that the President of Austria released a statement, asking what is going about in the country that something so horrific could happen, driving people to do things like that? [Something similar to that happened in Austria just before that case]. People in America generally don't question things like that, don't try to stop things at the roots of mental health, economic, housing and food issues. It's just "a part of life" here, almost.

So easy to say those kind of things, and point out other teenagers/young adults that did the "courageous and right" things. But we aren't in her shoes, and she is neither the abuser nor would I consider her any kind of enabler. I can't even comprehend how someone can call that boy's sister selfish. Yes, there were many things she could have done to stop it from the start, but there are lots of things a lot of people can do to stop a lot of things, and yet things go on. It wasn't in her ability, mentally, to do what was "right". She says a bunch of times, she was scared. I mean, she at least summoned enough courage to tend to her brother, without getting in conflict with her mother. Keep in mind she is only four years older then her brother; they are both still young.
Damn right it's easy to say those things. I'm almost as pissed at the sister and the abused boy as I am the mother. People with such a lack of backbone disgust me.

Don't judge me, though. It's not in my ability, mentally, to accept people like that.
Hell, don't judge the mother, either. It wasn't in her ability, mentally, to not abuse her son.
Hey, let's not judge anyone, because they're only doing the best their ability, mentally allows them.

As sarcastic as that sounds, I actually do feel that way, since it is true. Still, I can't help being disgusted at people who abuse people, or at the people who allow themselves to be abused. = \
Anyway, basically that whole story made me RAGE. At least the boy finally ran away, like he should have after the first beating/week locked in a closet.
Oh well~

People who allow themselves to be abused have no backbone? Seriously? That is not only ignorant, lacking compassion, but just plain retarded. Maybe it's easy to say all that, sitting safely at home where there isn't abuse, or abuse that isn't to that level.

Maybe not everyone can be as brave and compassionate as you then. Maybe some people are at a dead end and are lost. Maybe a girl that isn't even old enough to legally drink does need a helping hand, maybe just once in a while, to help get her and her younger brother away from abusive parents.

Seriously, WTF, they are just kids, you expect them to get all tough at the people they have been raised (manipulated) to think are powerful beings in their world, God like? Those parents are obviously manipulative, did many things to the children, especially the boy, in the head that will scar them for life, likely. Beating a dog for peeing where it was taught to, why don't you.

So, children are utterly helpless and can't do anything for themselves?

I'm not saying that what HopelessComposer said above was necessarily right (morally), but at the same time, what you're saying isn't either. I bet you any dollar amount that it was noticed by several other parties and it was completely ignored BECAUSE THE CHILD DID NOT SAY ANYTHING. Indeed a helping hand would be useful in a situation such as this, but nothing can happen unless there is a complaint (or reasonable doubt, which was why this case escalated to what it was).

There's three parties at fault here:
Mother: for being the bitch she is.
Children: for respecting their mother even though it's both PAINFUL and HUMILIATING, both which are understood at a very young age as something "wrong" without prior knowledge.
Society: because no one cares enough to step up and challenge the system.

No, I agree that the children should have spoken up, done something sooner. However, I don't agree that they necessarily could have at some points of the abuse, based on many things such as social stigmas, fear, a lack of trust of adults or maybe even the world. Nor do I think that HopelessComposer's opinions that the children are at some form of fault, at blame also, and deserve to be scolded for what they did not do, is anywhere near fair, right, compassionate or morally just.

The boy being abused, for instance, after so many years of the abuse may have learned that speaking up for himself would only get himself into more trouble. It's the hammer of fear that he and his sister fear, and fear can paralyze people in so many ways. Fear didn't kill them, though it could have allowed a future death, but it isn't right to blame someone for not sticking up for themselves, especially when it's children against two adults, and even more when it's the way they are raised (being raised so makes it seem more "normal and ok," if not completely). I'm going off assumptions here, but good assumptions I believe, based on the one course of psychology I have taken.

And even then, didn't the boy end up leaving, saving himself from any more torture and abuse? If he left a few years earlier, or the sister called for help, would someone be so heartless still and say, "Why didn't you do this yesterday, coward?"

I'm not trying to argue for who is at fault, or that the children were or were not helpless in their plights, I'm just trying to argue that the two children don't deserve blame, scolding.

Did you even read my post, RD? I didn't say the kids (or the mother, for that matter) deserved anything. If it were up to me, every person born would lead a happy, awesome life, no matter what kind of person they were. All I said was that people that don't help themselves disgust me, which I can't feel sorry for, since that's the way I feel. I'd still help those kids in a heartbeat, obviously.

I'm sure at some point you'd be disgusted at people for not helping themselves either. I can guarantee that at some point in your life you've looked at someone and thought to yourself "fucking pathetic," so you're in the same boat as me, even if you'd like to pretend that you're not. Excuse me for holding people to higher standards than you do, and excuse me for speaking my feelings. :)

Also, I can't stand that fucking "wtf, they're just kids" argument. I just turned twenty-one, and I can promise you that if my parents were keeping my little brother locked up in his own closet, beating him daily and forcing him to sleep in his own waste a few years ago, I would have done a lot fucking more than call the cops. I can promise you that I would have done the same thing when I was sixteen, or fourteen, or twelve, or ten, or eight, or six. If you think you wouldn't have stood up for a younger sibling in this same situation, no matter what your age, then I don't even know what to say. Just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach. Anyway, don't project your weaknesses onto me, please. Really, completely disgusting.

I think the kids were all just hoping their mother would stop, and things could get back to normal. That's why he said, "I can't take it anymore." He was just holding out, praying the mother would stop. My two cents anywho

I'm pretty sure the kids were too scared to tell anyone. At a young age you dont generally think about the outcomes of the situation, it's just there and it's happening.
So I dont blame them for not telling anyone, although, I do strongly go against all child abuse and the mother must have been COMPLETELY out of her mind.
For some reason I just wish to add the following...
There is a difference between punishing a child for doing wrong, which involves a smack or something similar, and child abuse, where the child has done no wrong and it repeatedly happens.

Wow I must of been born different from everyone, because i was way smartert then my age when i was a child. Honestly, if i was the older sister in that sistuation, i would of taken matters in my own hand. I would catch my mom and her boy friend off gaurd then stabb them in the side of the neck and rip away at their throats. After that i would have my brothers and sisters to help me move there bodies under the house or in the closet. I would take care of the kids with the limited resorces that i had at the moment and go from there until i couldnt do it any more. After everthing in the house is gone i would call one of my family or friends to come and get us. When they get to the house i would tell them a long sad story about how mom and her boy friend never came home after getting a ride with one of her friends.

Wow I must of been born different from everyone, because i was way smartert then my age when i was a child. Honestly, if i was the older sister in that sistuation, i would of taken matters in my own hand. I would catch my mom and her boy friend off gaurd then stabb them in the side of the neck and rip away at their throats. After that i would have my brothers and sisters to help me move there bodies under the house or in the closet. I would take care of the kids with the limited resorces that i had at the moment and go from there until i couldnt do it any more. After everthing in the house is gone i would call one of my family or friends to come and get us. When they get to the house i would tell them a long sad story about how mom and her boy friend never came home after getting a ride with one of her friends.


Lol.

Wow I must of been born different from everyone, because i was way smartert then my age when i was a child. Honestly, if i was the older sister in that sistuation, i would of taken matters in my own hand. I would catch my mom and her boy friend off gaurd then stabb them in the side of the neck and rip away at their throats. After that i would have my brothers and sisters to help me move there bodies under the house or in the closet. I would take care of the kids with the limited resorces that i had at the moment and go from there until i couldnt do it any more. After everthing in the house is gone i would call one of my family or friends to come and get us. When they get to the house i would tell them a long sad story about how mom and her boy friend never came home after getting a ride with one of her friends.

lol u r silly

Wow I must of been born different from everyone, because i was way smartert then my age when i was a child. Honestly, if i was the older sister in that sistuation, i would of taken matters in my own hand. I would catch my mom and her boy friend off gaurd then stabb them in the side of the neck and rip away at their throats. After that i would have my brothers and sisters to help me move there bodies under the house or in the closet. I would take care of the kids with the limited resorces that i had at the moment and go from there until i couldnt do it any more. After everthing in the house is gone i would call one of my family or friends to come and get us. When they get to the house i would tell them a long sad story about how mom and her boy friend never came home after getting a ride with one of her friends.

u r so kool

A child that thinks of murder that early on is not a child. It's a psychopath.

He probably shops at Hot Topic for all his apparel and make-up needs.... PURGATORY BLACK LIPSTICK AND LIPGLOSS!

Couldn't resist...

Wow I must of been born different from everyone, because i was way smartert then my age when i was a child. Honestly, if i was the older sister in that sistuation, i would of taken matters in my own hand. I would catch my mom and her boy friend off gaurd then stabb them in the side of the neck and rip away at their throats. After that i would have my brothers and sisters to help me move there bodies under the house or in the closet. I would take care of the kids with the limited resorces that i had at the moment and go from there until i couldnt do it any more. After everthing in the house is gone i would call one of my family or friends to come and get us. When they get to the house i would tell them a long sad story about how mom and her boy friend never came home after getting a ride with one of her friends.

Righteous. A true patriot

Apparently, Gekki's "lol" has opened the Floodgates of Pain and Ruin on Shadow.

No, he would have gotten the same replies without Gekki's reply.

No, he would have gotten the same replies without Gekki's reply.
I dunno, nobody replied for a good while, and right after Gekki replied, we got like fifty responses in half an hour.
Also, right before the responses, I asked half the people who responded "how has nobody responded to Shadow yet?" XD

Not that I care. I just find little group dynamic things like that really interesting/entertaining, so I had to point it out.
We talked about that kind of thing in psych class too, where if someone was being bullied for example, and nobody seemed to be doing anything about it, most people would just keep quiet. But as soon as someone stands up for the victim or whatever, 90% of the group will suddenly find the courage to help out, too. It just makes me happy how much people depend on each other, or something. I dunno. Examples like that always make me happy though, hahah.

Also the reason I love 4chan. The whole "hive mind" thing going on over there is hilarious to me, for some reason. Even if it's a pretty disgusting hive mind! =D

Yeah, the group mindset thing is pretty shitty, how people can't act and think on their own. I mean, personally I would think I was above that, can act and think on my own, but it's not even that basic. Some times, it's down to someone acting before you, as an opener; everyone else was thinking the same thing, just no one had the courage to speak up.

Sort of like those people who are raped or murdered in front of dozens of others, and no one does a thing. Human nature D: Fuck it.

Hahaha, I actually replied, and you told me off for only saying 'Lol.'

:|

Hahaha, I actually replied, and you told me off for only saying 'Lol.'

:|
____
What? No way! =D
Besides, I don't find any of the replies in here distasteful or anything, just amusing, hahah!
Come back to IRC, Gekki~

Yeah, the group mindset thing is pretty shitty, how people can't act and think on their own. I mean, personally I would think I was above that, can act and think on my own, but it's not even that basic. Some times, it's down to someone acting before you, as an opener; everyone else was thinking the same thing, just no one had the courage to speak up.

Sort of like those people who are raped or murdered in front of dozens of others, and no one does a thing. Human nature D: Fuck it.
Eh, I'm not really offended by it, since like you said, it's human nature. I like to think I'm above it, too, but there have been a few cases where I haven't been, and I always promise to do better next time. I'm slowly improving, though, and I like to think that most people do, with age. Sadly, most people probably don't, hahahah! X3

Hmm, well personally I find that human nature is pretty shitty in many cases. Just because something is natural, doesn't make it ok.

Okay this tread is getting off topic. I posted some time ago, what would you do in this situation. I posted what i would, and i was waiting to hear what you would all do. Okay i am confused about the human nature thing so yea some one creat a thread about that and inform me alittle more lol.

This thread was pretty much dying until you revived it again =p Have you consulted a psychologist yet to get help with your psycho nature?

Yeah buddy, you should get that checked out.

Okay this tread is getting off topic. I posted some time ago, what would you do in this situation. I posted what i would, and i was waiting to hear what you would all do. Okay i am confused about the human nature thing so yea some one creat a thread about that and inform me alittle more lol.

wait, wait, wait. Creating a new thread would inform you better?

LOL Chillax people it was a joke, and if any one needs to go see the loony toon docter you should look at your reflection. Can a moderater please close this tread, it is no longer needed, unless we can have a spam war lol.

LOL Chillax people it was a joke, and if any one needs to go see the loony toon docter you should look at your reflection. Can a moderater please close this tread, it is no longer needed, unless we can have a spam war lol.

I see no reason to close this thread, as it can still produce a decent amount of discussion. We just need to get back on topic...