GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Lilburn couple told police it is common for them to leave their 6-year-old son alone for hours at a time and beat him if he disobeys.
Etsegenet Tekletsio and her husband, Belayneh Ogato, are being charged with child cruelty after a neighbor found their son wandering around after he snuck out of a locked apartment last week.
Officers say the boy had scratches on his leg and face.
Police had no way to reach the parents so they took the child and left a note on the door. A few hours later, the couple called and apparently didn't see what they had done as a big deal.
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Authorities said the parents told them their type of discipline is commonplace in their native Ethiopia.
Neighbor Maria Blanco says she can't understand what the parents were thinking.
"I have my child and I would never leave him alone," she told Channel 2's Tony Thomas.
Both parents have bonded out of jail.
Cox Media Group
