Bonds lowered for Alabama couple charged with child abuse

COLUMBIANA, Ala. (AP) – The bonds have been lowered for an Alabama couple charged with abusing their adoptive son.

Local media reports that Shelby County Circuit Judge William Bostick granted the request after prosecutors and lawyers representing 57-year-old Richard Kelly and 47-year-old Cynthia Kelly agreed during a court hearing Wednesday to drop their bonds to $100,000 each from $1 million. Both are charged with aggravated child abuse.

Helena police say hospital staff notified them in November about a 14-year-old boy in critical condition. Police say Richard Kelly had brought the teen there, who weighed 47 pounds (21 kilograms) upon arrival.

According to police testimony, the teen’s adoptive parents kept him in “forced isolation.” He spent about 23 hours a day inside a concrete basement with only box-springs, a fly paper strip and an algebra book.

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