KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A warrant has been issued for the boyfriend of a Missouri woman accused of abusing her 10-year-old daughter by barricading her in a closet.
The child's mother appeared in court Thursday and waived a preliminary hearing. She was charged last month after police found the child weighing only 32 pounds and confined to a closet in the mother's Kansas City home.
Her boyfriend, Marcus R. Benson, was charged Wednesday with two counts of child endangerment, but police say he hasn't been taken into custody. A phone listing for Benson has been disconnected.
The mother has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, child abuse and child endangerment.
The Associated Press is withholding the mother's name to protect the child's identity. The woman is being held on a $200,000 cash bond.
