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 The now 13-year-old boy will testify at a preliminary hearing to
determine if his father and step-mother should stand trial in the
case, said Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Carin Goldfarb. The
boy's testimony could also come on Friday - the timing depends on
other witness testimony.
The boy's father, Charles Bothuell IV, 46, and his step-mother,
Monique Dillard-Bothuell, 37, are charged with torture and
second-degree child abuse. Torture carries up to life in prison and
second-degree child abuse up to four years.
Prosecutors have said the child's parents physically abused him,
depriving him of food, banishing him to the basement and forcing to
perform extreme exercise.
Bothuell's attorney, Shawn Patrick Smith, has called the boy a liar.
The boy's father reported him missing on June 14, triggering a
widespread police search that came up empty until a Michigan State
Police sergeant and an FBI agent found him alive and hungry
barricaded behind boxes in the basement of his house.
At Wednesday's hearing, Detroit Police Officer Lori Dillon, told the
court she visited the family's home twice, on June 19 while the
child was still missing and on June 25, the day he emerged from the
basement.
During her first visit, Dillon described a dirty home and showed the
court a white PVC pipe that the father told her was used to
discipline the boy.
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When she returned on a second visit, Dillon said the house was
cleaner and she noticed a coat in a closet that matched the
description of the one the boy was last wearing.
While she was standing outside the home, Dillon was called back
inside by an excited colleague.
"He said you need to come in here, we have located the kid," Dillon
testified.
As the boy climbed the steps out of the basement, he appeared
hesitant, Dillon said. After exchanging words, the boy ran to her
and gave her a hug.
(Reporting by Serena Maria Daniels; Editing by Mary Wisniewskin and
Sandra Maler)
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