Ohio Couple Plead Not Guilty To Caging Son, Delivering Electric Shocks

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) _ A couple pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that they forced their 10-year-old son to sit in a dog cage and shocked him with a remote-controlled collar. <br/><br/>Jessica Botzko,

Wednesday, May 16th 2007, 9:08 pm

By: News On 6

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) _ A couple pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that they forced their 10-year-old son to sit in a dog cage and shocked him with a remote-controlled collar.

Jessica Botzko, 28, and John Westover, 37, are charged with child endangerment and making or selling drugs in front of their two children.

Both made their first court appearance Wednesday, and a judge appointed them attorneys. Messages left at offices of two attorneys in the case were not immediately returned Wednesday night.

They will remain in jail in lieu of bail.

The couple's son ran away from home with his 5-year-old brother May 1 and told police he was tired of being put in a dog cage, police said. Officers said they found a collapsible cage and a shock collar used to train animals in the couple's mobile home.

Police said Botzko and Westover told officers they put the older boy in the cage to punish him. The cage, less than 2 feet tall and wide, had a chain across the top with two locks on each end, police said.

The boy told officers that he also was caged when his father was using or making drugs, police said.