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NAUGATUCK, CT (WFSB) - Two people were arrested in connection with a case of child abuse where the victim was punished by drinking hot sauce, kneeling on uncooked rice and holding a bottle rocket in his mouth.
Kevin Grant, 31, and 29-year-old Kaitlin Elizabeth Baptiste were arrested on Oct. 16.
According to Naugatuck police, they responded to the couple's Forest Street home on Oct. 1 for a report of the abuse.
They said they learned that Grant, the victim's stepfather, forced the child to sleep locked in a laundry room for several months and punished him with things like the tacks and hot sauce.
According to an arrest warrant for Grant, which can be read here, the suspect made the victim eat his own vomit and hold a bottle rocket in his own mouth until it exploded. A Department of Children and Families worker noticed a scar on the victim's face, which came from the explosive.
Grant told the DCF worker that child was only put in the laundry room as punishment for playing too rough with his siblings.
The victim, however, told DCF during an interview that at some point back in June, one of his siblings was playing and "cracked his head open." The victim said he was blamed for the injury despite denying it.
When Grant got home that day, he allegedly beat the victim with a belt.
After the sibling was taken to the hospital, the victim reported that he was forced to stand in a corner facing the wall for about a week.
Then he was made to sleep in the laundry room for four months.
During that period, Grant made the victim kneel on rice for an entire day and do push ups until he couldn't move his arms.
He also made the child stand on one foot on a ladder with the tacks on the steps and underneath. The child told DCF that when his leg became tired, he'd have to put his foot down on the tacks, which made him bleed a lot.
Police said Baptiste, the victim's mother, knew about it and did nothing to stop it.
Baptiste's warrant can be read here.
Grant was charged with risk of injury to a child, second-degree assault, intentional cruelty to persons, disorderly conduct and second-degree reckless endangerment.
Baptiste was charged with risk of injury to a child, conspiracy to commit intentional cruelty to persons, conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct and second-degree reckless endangerment.
Both suspects faced a judge on Oct. 19 and are free on bond.