Imagine pleading for the safe return of your missing child to then have yourself made out to be the potential perpetrator live on air.
Well, that’s what happened here and it’s a wild ride.
Charles Bothuell IV from Detroit reported his son Charles Bothuell V, 12, as missing in 2014 and appeared on major news outlets to talk about his son and beg for his return.
But I don’t think he ever thought he’d end up being labelled as the one who kidnapped him.
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Thankfully, Bothuell V was found by the FBI, but it was not in a location you’d expect:
Bothuell IV was live on HLN at the time when host Nancy Grace found out that the boy had been discovered in Bothuell IV's basement.
You can see the moment her demeanour changes too…
When she heard through her earpiece the news of his son’s whereabouts, she decided to confront the dad and asked Bothuell IV: "Sir, did you check your basement?"
He said: "I've checked the basement, the FBI has checked the basement, the Detroit Police checked my basement, my wife has checked the basement.
"We've all searched my basement multiple times."
It was only after the interview that Charles Bothuell IV was bombarded with reports that he knew his son was in the basement but called the press 'absurd' for the claims.
So how did the kid end up in the basement if it had been checked?
When a police investigation followed, they found that the 12-year-old boy was never missing - he had been hiding from his father and stepmother, Monique Dillard-Bothuell.
When Charles Bothuell V was found, he shared that he hid in the basement because he was scared of the reaction his father was going to have when he realised he hadn't exercised.
The exercises? Torture-like.
According to court documents, Bothuell IV forced his son to complete a ‘workout’ twice a day, which included 100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 100 jumping jacks, curling 25-pound weights and complete 5,000 revolutions on an exercise machine.
The kicker? If he didn't finish in less than an hour, he had to do it all again.
For this, Charles Bothuell IV was convicted in 2016 after being arrested in April 2015 - alongside his wife with the pair charged with torture and second-degree child abuse.
The torture charge was later dismissed in court, so Bothuell IV pleaded guilty to fourth-degree child abuse in exchange for the removal of the second-degree child-abuse charges.
During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Bothuell V was very thin and had marks on his body when he was found, which led to Bothuell IV admitting to beating him with a PVC pipe.
This admission led to him being handed 18 months of probation and mandatory anger management classes, as well as losing custody of his son and being unable to contact him.
His wife allegedly accepted a plea deal too, however the details were not made public.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Britt Jones