PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon mother says she’s shocked to learn that the father of her two autistic sons has been accused of caging the boys in his apartment.
Jona (JAH-nah) Bronson of Tillamook, Ore., was once the girlfriend of 30-year-old John Eckhart. She said Thursday that she gave Eckhart custody because she didn’t want to disrupt the boys’ routines, but she’s now hoping to win custody over the boys.
Eckhart and his current girlfriend, Alayna Higdon, are accused in Vancouver, Wash., of unlawful imprisonment and mistreatment. Police on Tuesday found the boys — ages 5 and 7 — in a bedroom with a cage-like door. Police say Higdon told them she didn’t want the two boys running wild.
Bronson says she saw the boys last weekend but got no hint of mistreatment.
