It's one thing to try and teach your child a crucial lesson in life, and quite another to torture him in order to do so. Three women from Missouri have been arrested for allegedly arranging to have their "too nice" 6-year-old relative kidnapped in order to put the fear of God into him.
The child, whose identity has not been revealed, was reportedly "abducted" by Nathan Firoved, 23, as he got off the school bus on Monday. Apparently, Firoved didn't hold back and used all of his high school theater experience because police say he told the boy that he'd never "see his mommy again" and that he would be "nailed to the wall of a shed" after luring him into Firoved's pickup truck.
The crazy kidnapping lasted four hours. The boy was reportedly taken to a basement, where Firoved showed him his gun, threatened to hurt him if he didn't stop crying, tied up his hands and feet with plastic bags, and covered his face with a jacket.
And then one of his aunts even reportedly got involved in the twisted "lesson." The woman reportedly took off the child's pants and told him he was going to be "sold into sex slavery."
I'm guessing the family thought this should end like an after-school special because, hours later, the child was brought upstairs. And surprise!—his family was waiting there to lecture him about never talking to strangers, because a lecture was just what this poor kid needed after enduring hours of torture.
Good lord.
The child admitted to school officials what had happened to him and he has reportedly been placed in protective custody.
The boy's mother, Elizabeth Hupp, 25, his aunt, 38-year-old Denise Kroutil, and his grandmother, 58-year-old Rose Brewer, were arrested and charged with kidnapping. Firoved was also arrested and charged with felony kidnapping and other crimes, according to police.
The four are being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
What do you think of this family's life lesson?
Image via Chris Potter/Flickr