Crime & Safety

Warrants: Boys Hog-Tied in Powder Springs

One of the boys, an 8-year-old, was allegedly locked in a bedroom on the second story of a Powder Springs home for so long that he urinated on the floor several times, records show.

Two Powder Springs boys were hog-tied and forced to lie face down on the floor for an extended period of time as a form of punishment, according to Cobb County criminal warrants.

One of the boys, an 8-year-old, was bound to a chair with duct tape and locked in a bedroom on the second story of a home for so long that he urinated on the floor several times, records show.

In the warrants, Cobb authorities accuse Sean Sterling of doling out the punishments and Shawnna Leigh Huntley, his fiancée, of allowing it. The abuse occurred between Dec. 25, 2012, and March 7 at the couple's home, which is located in the 4200 block of Meadows Lake Trail, records show.

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The 8-year-old and the 14-year-old boys are victims of past physical abuse and officials allege that Huntley, their biological mother, "has failed to provide treatment for such abuse while allowing the victim(s) to be exposed to excessive forms of punishment," according to the warrant. Their "behaviors and mannerisms indicated excessive mental pain from such excessive punishment."

The couple was arrested Friday, but Sterling was released from the Cobb County jail Saturday after posting $75,000 bond. He faces various charges, including two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree.

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Huntley faces similar charges, including two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree. She is in the Cobb County jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.

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