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Boy Who Died Locked in Cage Wrote About Wanting His Family to Like Him
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Chicago Tribune
[link to www.ktla.com]
GARY, Indiana -- By the time 13-year-old Christian Choate was allegedly beaten to death and buried in a shallow grave in a Gary, Ind., trailer park in 2009, his family had been getting semiregular visits from child welfare authorities for more than 10 years.
The Indiana Department of Child Services' inch-thick case file on the Choate family details more than a dozen investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect dating to 1999. In 2009, Indiana prosecutors say, Christian died after years of abuse, finally succumbing to head injuries caused by blows from his father and older sister.
Jurors Recommend Death for Couple in Child Torture Case Christian's father, Riley Choate, and stepmother, Kimberly Kubina, were charged with murder in May after the older sister, now 17, told authorities about the boy's death.
Reports released by juvenile court officials Friday provide a portrait of the boy's short, terrifying life — and of missed opportunities to stop the alleged abuse.
Less than a year before he died, DCS records state an investigator interviewed the boy, his parents and siblings in response to a neighbor reporting Christian was kept under "house arrest."
Prosecutors allege Christian endured beatings daily and was kept locked in a 3-foot-high dog cage, where he had little to eat and often soiled himself. The DCS report, dated June 2008, says there was no evidence of neglect.
"We followed all state laws all policies and procedures, and we'll continue assessing this fatality," DCS spokeswoman Anne Houseworth said Friday.
The abuse in Christian's case was exceptional, Houseworth said Friday, but DCS staff did follow agency protocols and performed a thorough investigation of the allegations.
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