Sacramento, CA—
Sacramento Police report that a 13-year-old boy is now safe after his father and step-mother chained him down to their kitchen table, off and on, for several days.Sacramento police responded to reports of a juvenile walking around the neighborhood hancuffed with chains around his neck asking for help Friday night.
When police arrived they said the boy reported his father and step-mother had chained him down to the kitchen table to keep him in the house while they went gambling.
"I mean, come on. You are human. You don't do that to your kids. That hurts because he's my nephew," said Pa Phang, the sister of the teenager's biological mother.
Police arrested father John Vang, 40, and Step-mother Thong Vue, 34, for false imprisonment and cruelty to a child. Both are out on bail now.
The 13-year-old has some legal trouble of his own. His family says he was in jeuvenile court Monday.
"He broke into Grandma's house. He took TVs and a computer," Phang said. That's likely what lead his parents to punish him.
Police believe the boy had been chained off-and-on since Wednesday, and finally managed find a key and escape Friday. The 13-year-old told police his father and step-mother had left the house to go gambling at a casino.
His aunt says it wouldn't be the first time they left him to do that. She says they kicked him out just before taking a trip to Vegas in March.
"He showed-up at my door in the middle of the night," Phang said. "He said I got no where to go."
The boy also told her he had been beaten with a golf club, and even chained-up before too.
As police continue to investigate, the boy is currently in custody of his biological mother.
