Born in 1995, he lived with his mother until, in 2005, the father received custody of both Christian and an older sister.Christian was said to be in good health when he arrived. But he said he missed his mother and wanted to live with her.
The boy began to be punished almost immediately, and was regularly locked in a room in the basement. But when the family moved to a mobile home in a different part of Lake County things got markedly worse.
Christian was made to live inside a used metal dog cage. He allegedly was repeatedly struck and kicked by both his father and stepmother. When Christian tried to escape from the dog cage, his father reportedly secured it with seven locks. The keys were kept near the father's computer, where he was said to enjoy playing video games about racing while his son struggled in the cage.
That was two years ago. They never reported him missing; their story about him, in case anyone asked, was that he had run away. But not many people asked, because not many people knew he existed. The other children in the home were threatened with severe punishment if they ever said anything.
Sometimes Christian's hands were chained to the top of the cage; during one such occasion, according to the affidavit, he was crying, so his stepmother, as additional punishment, spray-painted his chained hands black. His health had started to deteriorate, and he had begun to soil himself, so he was kept naked except for a diaper. The only baths he was permitted were with ice-cold water, which made him scream.
