Adopted teen describes life of isolation, fear

By Wayne Peal

For the first time, a 16-year-old boy with emotional issues spoke publicly Thursday of his life locked away inside his Deerfield Township home — a life he said was full of isolation and threats.

The youth recalled a day earlier this year when his sister, armed with a gun, ordered his friend out of the family's Bennett Lake Road home, apparently at their mother's request.

"She said she didn't want another crazy kid at the house," the youth testified during a court hearing.

After the hearing, his parents, Eric Corcoran and Angela "Angie" Corcoran, both 43, were ordered to stand trial on second-degree child abuse charges following Monday's preliminary exam before Livingston District Judge Carol Sue Reader.

Because he lived apart from his family in a locked basement, the youth said he was forced to go to the bathroom outdoors or relieve himself in plastic bottles when others weren't there to unlock the upstairs door.

The youth also said he was excluded from dining with family members, even though his parents, brother and sister tended to dine separately.

Angela Tisch of Child Protective Services, Monday's only other witness, said she found the youth's basement mattress "extremely filthy" during her February investigative visit to the home.

"There was a lot of garbage and debris lying around," she said.

In her ruling, Reader did not refer to the incident involving the gun. However, she said the fact that the boy was housed and fed separately from the family met state probable-cause standards, requiring the couple to be tried.

"There was minimal contact," between parents and child, Reader said. She also noted the youth's testimony that he had to "pee in bottles" and that he was clad in painful, too-small shoes when interviewed by CPS.

The youth testified he used a camper toilet left outside in the snow last winter, when his parents and two siblings were absent.

He said he didn't want to bring it inside because it was full, and he didn't want to spill its contents on the basement floor.

The youth took the stand accompanied by a dog for emotional support and carrying a stuffed Pokemon doll.

During cross-examination by attorneys representing his parents, the youth said he generally had a "good relationship" with his father but a troubled one with his mother.

He also acknowledged making an attempt to kill a family cat.

Attorney Evan Callanan, who is representing Eric Corcoran, said keeping the youth in a secured area protected the family from a troubled son. Callanan added that he intends to explore the youth's behavior more fully at trial.

"There's volumes (of incidents)," he said.

Attorney Mark Scharrer, who is representing Angela Corcoran, indicated his client was primarily responsible for the boy's discipline, potentially straining her relationship with the youth.

He also noted that Angela Corcoran fought hard to get the youth placed in a special-needs program in the Genesee County district where he attends school.

The youth was removed from the couple earlier this year and placed in foster care.

The Corcorans had been his foster parents before adopting him, at age 5, in 2004.

Protective services had twice before investigated the couple, beginning in May 2010, before the February investigation which prompted the charges.

.