Teen held captive ‘covered with soot, sores, scars’

THREE people are accused of kidnapping and torturing a 16-year-old boy who police said had been kept chained in a fireplace, choked with a belt and denied food for days at a time during more than a year in captivity.

The emaciated boy fled a home in Tracy, California, last week with a chain around his ankle and sought help at a local gym.

Michael Schumacher, 34, his wife, Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and the teenager’s one-time guardian, Caren Ramirez, 43, face torture, kidnapping and multiple child abuse charges. They have appeared before San Joaquin County Superior Court in Stockton.

All three have yet to enter pleas and will reappear in court on January 5. Each is being held in lieu of more than €1.65 million bail at San Joaquin County Jail.

Detective Nate Cogburn described in an affidavit details of the alleged abuse that emerged during an interview with the boy.

The teenager told investigators he had been seriously burned on his left arm when someone purposely lit a fire in the fireplace while he was chained there and sleeping. Authorities who later searched the home where the boy was held reported finding a blanket inside the fireplace, said Mr Cogburn.

According to the affidavit, the three defendants had held the boy captive since mid-2007, beating him frequently, denying him food for days at a time and keeping him chained to the fireplace or a heavy table.

“Though 16 years old, he appeared much younger due to malnourishment, and his body was predominantly covered with soot, sores and scars,” said Mr Cogburn.

The boy said he was regularly hit on the head with a baseball bat and was once cut with a knife, according to the detective. Mr Cogburn said the boy had an injured ankle that seemed permanently indented from being chained.

The boy explained that the defendants also forced him to take unknown pills, drink alcohol and smoke marijuana to keep him lethargic, the detective said.