Extreme punishment: Dead boy’s parents punished him by denying water

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Extreme punishment: Dead boy’s parents punished him by denying water

WHAT: A 10-year-old Dallas-area boy who died of dehydration after his father and stepmother kept water from him was being punished for wetting the bed, authorities say.

HOW: The boy, Johnathan James, died after water was kept from him while temperatures soared to 100 degrees, police said. His twin brother, Joseph James, told the Dallas Morning News that his parents put Johnathan in a room without air conditioning. Joseph said on the day Johnathan died he had peanut butter stuck in his throat but his parents wouldn’t let him wash it down.

WHAT’S BEING DONE:
The boy’s dad, Michael Ray James, and stepmother, Tina Alberson, both 42, were jailed after being charged Thursday with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. Johnathan’s twin brother and a 12-year-old stepbrother were not injured and are staying with relatives.

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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/daily-outrage/2011/08/extreme-punishment-dead-boy-s-parents-punished-him-denying-water?category=44232