UPPER CHELSEA, Nova Scotia, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Police in Canada have charged two suspects with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy who showed up at a man's house Monday wearing only a hoodie and chains.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have charged David James Leblanc, 47, and Wayne Alan Cunningham, 31 with sexual assault and unlawful confinement, The (Halifax) Chronicle Herald reported Wednesday. The suspects remained at large, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Terry Frauzel of Upper Chelsea, Nova Scotia, told the Chronicle the boy's appearance stunned him.
"I couldn't believe it," Frauzel said. "He was chained up, and not only was he chained at the wrists, but on his legs, too."
He said the youth told him the men had picked him up in a car in Bridgewater and held him prisoner in a nearby house for two weeks before he escaped by punching out boards covering a window. The boy said he had gotten away a week earlier but his captors caught him, Frauzel said.
He said he used bolt cutters to free the boy from the padlocked chains.
"He hugged us, he was so grateful. He felt like he was finally free," Frauzel said.
After escaping and running through brush and woods, the boy first knocked on Alice Arnold's door.
"He asked to come in but I said, 'No, I'll call 911,'" she said. "And he said, 'Don't call the police, it'll make it worse for me.' He looked terrified."
He ran off and Arnold called the RCMP.
The Chronicle said LeBlanc had already been scheduled to appear in court in November on child pornography and sexual assault charges for allegedly molesting and photographing two young boys.
Cunningham has a criminal past that includes prison time for theft, break-ins, forgery, fraud and identity theft, the newspaper said.
