Hurt boy found wandering; sister tied up

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – A couple were arrested Saturday after a battered boy was found wandering a roadway wearing only his pajamas and saying he had escaped from a nearby residence, sheriff’s deputies said.

A Kitsap County sheriff’s deputy called to the area about 4:30 a.m. found the 10-year-old boy undernourished, wet and muddy, Deputy Sheriff Scott E. Wilson said in a statement.

The boy allegedly told authorities he had escaped from his grandparents’ house, Wilson said, and the deputy noticed excessive bruising on the boy’s body, including his face, arms and legs. A plastic tie was attached to the boy’s ankle and there were ligature marks on his wrists.

The child said he had been hog-tied – his hands tied behind his back and to his ankles – and restrained for several days in his bedroom as punishment by the couple. He managed to free himself and escaped by pushing out a bedroom window screen, he said, then made his way to a creek, where he stopped for water before walking along the road.

The boy said his younger sister was also at the mobile home, and when deputies arrived they found an 8-year-old girl lying on a mattress on the floor and tied up as the boy described, Wilson said. A third boy, 11, was also at the residence but was not restrained.

A 66-year-old man and 61-year-old woman were taken into custody and booked into Kitsap County Jail for investigation of unlawful imprisonment. Bail was set at $100,000 each. They’re scheduled for an initial appearance in Kitsap County Superior Court on Monday at 3 p.m.

Authorities determined that the two younger children are not related to the couple; however, the older boy is their grandson.