Teen Held in Closet Has Day in Court

Bernell McCall has finally had the chance to tell his story in a court of law. The name may be unfamiliar, but you'll remember his story. McCall is the Oklahoma teen who captured headlines last September when he escaped from his bindings and fled from the closet where he was being held. Nearly naked, starving and scarred, McCall fled to a National Guard compound. There, he told authorities about how he had been imprisoned and tortured by his mother (LaRhonda Marie McCall, 37, pictured above) and her boyfriend (Steve Vern Hamilton, 38) for years.

In court, McCall described the horrors he endured in sharp detail. His allegations are disturbing and hard to read:

McCall used his scarred wrists to tell part of his story.

Showing them to a judge Wednesday, he said his mother and her friend often bound him or locked him in a closet for "stealing" food from the family's kitchen.

According to the boy, who is now in foster care, his mother and Hamilton would use twine, a telephone cord or plastic ties to bind him, whichever was handy, and put him in a closet, the boy said, lifting his arms toward the judge.

"Sometimes they would leave me in there for a couple of nights before I got free," the 15-year-old said. Half-siblings would risk punishment by sneaking him food while their mother was away, he said in a cold, unemotional courtroom recitation.

"I remember her saying, 'Die' and that she regretted having me," McCall testified, telling the judge that his mother and Hamilton often choked him until he passed out. Source: Oklahoma boy says mom, her friend beat him over food, AP

McCall went on to testify about being doused with rubbing alcohol and then set on fire by his mother. He also said he had been covered in sugar water and then tied up in a garage where bugs would attack him. McCall's mother shook her head at some of the testimony. Her defense attorney asserts that there is more to these stories than we know at this time.

Perhaps. But McCall's heavily scarred body is strong evidence of sustained abuse. He has gained 47 pounds since escaping and is now in foster care. And the fact that his mother was previously convicted of, and served time for, starving her 2-year old daughter to death in 1996 indicates that the starvation allegations are likely true.