INDIANAPOLIS, March 8 (UPI) -- Police allege a 12-year-old Indianapolis boy was handcuffed for six hours by a Marion County sheriff's deputy who wanted to teach him a lesson.
The boy would have remained in handcuffs longer had his mother not called 911 to say the cuffs had tightened and were cutting off circulation to her son's arms, said Sgt. Matthew Mount of the Indianapolis police.
"He was in some pretty serious pain," Mount said.
Deputy Sydney S. Eghan, 24, and Betsy Chestnut, 30, the boy's mother, were arrested Saturday and charged with child neglect, The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday.
Eghan and Chestnut are engaged and share a home with the boy, said Mount, alleging Chestnut agreed to let Eghan handcuff the boy, arms behind his back, for stealing a cell phone from a family friend.
Eghan, who allegedly handcuffed the boy and then left for his night shift at the county jail, has been suspended without pay pending an investigation.
