Charges dropped in parental handcuff case

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., June 25 (UPI) -- Charges were dropped Thursday against a Georgia woman who kept her teenage son in handcuffs while trying to perform an exorcism on him.

Sandra Alfred, 46, of Lilburn came to the attention of local police when she reported her 15-year-old son as an unruly juvenile, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. She was arrested June 12 for false arrest and cruelty to a child, after police investigated and discovered she had handcuffed her son for hours at a time and kept him without food or water for up to 12 hours.

"All we have is parents who chose a course of action that government does not like or does not understand. That's all we have," said Judge Robert Mitchum as he dismissed the charges.

Gwinnett County prosecutors could still take the case to a grand jury, the newspaper said.