Mom Forced 7-Year-Old Son to Sit on a Stove: Prosecutors

CHICAGO, IL — A South Side mother is accused of beating and forcing her 7-year-old son to sit on a stove after the boy was discovered running along Lake Shore Drive in a pull-up diaper and taken to a hospital Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Caroline Woods, 24, of the 4800 block of South Chicago Beach Drive, was charged with battery Tuesday, and she is being held without bail, the report stated. Police picked up the child after receiving a 911 call of a boy running along Lake Shore Drive, near 47th Street, the report added.

Prosecutors claim the boy said Woods had a history of hitting him with a baseball bat, an extension cord and other objects, according to the report. A doctor who examined the 7-year-old said the boy had a staggering amount of burns and bruises over his body, the report added.

The boy lived with Woods and her boyfriend, and that's where he allegedly was forced to sit on the home's stove, the report stated. The 7-year-old claims he had to sleep in a closet that he was forced to also use as a bathroom, the report added. It is not known if charges have been filed against the boyfriend.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services took the boy and his younger sister into protective custody Sunday, a spokeswoman told the Sun-Times.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

Caroline Woods (photo via the Cook County Sheriff's Office)

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