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Couple kept son, 13, in tiny basement cage

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MISSOURI

Couple kept son, 13, in tiny basement cage

CLAYTON -- A lawyer and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of child abuse for punishing their adopted 13-year-old son by keeping him inside a cage-like cubicle in the basement, police said.

Howard Munson, 37, and his 35-year-old wife, Marjorie, were arrested at their home after police found the boy fully clothed but without shoes in a basement so cold that officers could see the condensation of their breath.

Anonymous family friends told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the boy, Alonso, suffered from psychiatric problems and that a psychologist had instructed them to punish the boy that way.

1983 Nov 23