Date: 2014-06-30
By Kris Betts, Tina Shively and Eleanor Beck
DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas -- The couple accused of kidnapping their own adopted son said they had to keep him locked up to protect their other children and community.
The couple is out on bond after it was lowered to $70,000 on Friday.
Jenifer Thyssen, 40, and her husband, 39-year-old Dane 'Andy' Thyssen, are accused of locking up their 22-year-old adopted son, Koystya Thyssen, in a garage apartment by himself for at least four years.
Attorneys representing the couple say they kept their son locked up because he had sexually assaulted children, including a relative, in the past.
Attorney Rip Collins said, "He [Koystya] has a history of sexually abusing children, not only in other countries, but in this neighborhood, in this community. And their concern was, they had him restrained because of their concern that other people would be harmed."
Friends say the couple adopted Koystya from Kazakhstan in 2004, when he was 11 years old.