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Cops: Washington Grandma Put Boy In Dog Crate; Brother Gave Him Black Eye

POSTED: 10:47 am EST January 29, 2008
UPDATED: 4:01 pm EST February 5, 2008

A Washington woman is accused of locking her 10-year-old grandson in a feces-filled dog crate for about 90 minutes.



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Police said Rhonda Lehman, 51, of Fayette Street, put the boy in the crate on Jan. 26 after he laced the family's drinks with lamp oil and household cleaner because he was angry with the family.

On Tuesday, Lehman waived her right to a preliminary hearing. Her trial date has not yet been set.

"The grandmother stated that the kid was poisoning the entire family by pouring lamp oil and a household cleaner by the name of 'Bam' into their drinks," said James Markley of the Washington Police Department.

Lehman told police the whole family felt as if they had the flu for about a month.

She is charged with child endangerment and terroristic threats.

Police said Lehman also told a Washington County agency if someone didn't come for the boy, she would bury him alive in the back yard.

When police arrived at the home on Fayette Street, they found the boy with a bruised face and black eye.

"He was scared," said Markley. "I asked him how did you get the black eye. He told me that his brother did it."

When asked why he was trying to poison his family, Markley said the boy told him he "was angry, because he didn't get to go on a trip."

The boy's 24-year-old brother, Michael McCreery, is charged with punching the youngster.

The 10-year-old is now with the county's Children and Youth Services agency.

"He said goodbye to his grandmother, and she didn't seem remorseful for anything she did," said Markley. "She told him not to come back. When I asked the brother, 'Why would you punch a 10-year-old in the eye?' He said, 'It's better than what I wanted to do to him.'"

Lehman and McCreery are in the Washington County Jail on $10,000 bail.


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