Charges: Couple left boy, 5, in woods alone as punishment for wetting himself
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A couple from southern Minnesota have been charged with child neglect after allegedly leaving a boy alone in the woods.
The 5-year-old boy was found by a driver wandering south of St. Peter, Nicollet County, on Aug. 28. He was crying and wet from the rain.
His father, 32-year-old Gregory Wilson, and his partner Lynda Michel, 42, are alleged to have dropped him off in the woods as punishment for wetting himself.
Charges filed in Nicollet County state that someone who was in the car with the pair at the time had tried to persuade the pair not to drop the boy off.
They turned around a short time later but couldn't find him.
The boy told police he had been left behind because he was "naughty."
When examined by medical staff, they found multiple bruises on the boy's back, buttocks and hips, with Wilson telling police he regularly spanked him with an open hand.
Both Wilson and Michel have been charged with child neglect, while Wilson is also facing a charge of malicious punishment of a child and domestic assault.
