Dad gets 4 years for locking son in small dog cage

The cage was a little less than 2 feet tall and wide.

TOLEDO (AP) — A father who punished his 10-year-old son by locking him in a dog cage told the boy “this is what jail is going to be like,” the man’s attorney said.

John Westover, 37, now will be going to prison after he pleaded no contest Thursday to child endangering.

A judge found him guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison.

Police said Westover and the boy’s mother made their son sit in the cramped cage for several hours at times.

The boy, at times, had to wear a remote-controlled shock collar and was repeatedly zapped by the device meant to train animals, police said.

Westover used the cage when the boy didn’t behave, said his attorney, Jack Viren. Westover told the boy “if you don’t behave, this is what jail is going to be like,” Viren said.

The boy’s mother, Jessica Botzko, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this month after pleading no contest to child endangering.

The boy told officers that he also was caged when Westover was using or making drugs.

Viren said Westover’s judgment was clouded by his drug use.

Westover indicated to the judge that he understands what he did was wrong, Viren said.

The boy escaped the home with his 5-year-old brother, running away while his dad was out and his mom was dancing at a strip club. He told officers that he was tired of being put in a dog cage, police said.

Westover had been scheduled to go to trial next week.

Officers found a collapsible cage and the shock collar in the couple’s mobile home. The cage, less than 2 feet tall and wide, had a chain across the top with two locks on each end, police said.

Authorities said the older boy, found with his brother on a neighbor’s porch a few blocks from their home, weighed only 61 pounds, appeared thin for his age and told officers he had not eaten in a couple days.

Police said their home was filled with dirty clothes, garbage and empty boxes.

Neighbors said they never saw the boys playing outside or walking to school. Some had no idea the boys lived in the trailer home with their parents.

They have been turned over to Lucas County Children Services and were placed with another family.

Another Ohio couple, Michael and Sharen Gravelle of Norwalk, were convicted in December of child abuse and endangerment for keeping some of their 11 special-needs adopted children in wire and wood enclosures.