Couple Charged In Brutal Abuse Of 11-Year-Old Pend Oreille County Pair Accused Of Severely Beating Boy With Board

Child-abuse charges were filed Friday against a Pend Oreille County couple accused of beating their 11-year-old son with a board and binding his hands and feet so tightly at night he suffered nerve damage.

Deputy Prosecutor Tony Koures called it the worst case of child abuse he’s witnessed. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen one this bad,” he said.

John and Cindy Hamberg were arrested Tuesday after being turned in to sheriff’s deputies by a relative.

Koures charged John Hamberg, 36, with one count each of first- and second-degree assault of a child. He was being held in the Pend Oreille County Jail on $100,000 bond.

Cindy Hamberg, whose age was not available, was charged with third-degree assault of a child. Her bail was set at $10,000.

The boy told authorities the couple systematically abused him over the past two months.

According to court documents, the abuse included spankings with a 1-inch by 4-inch board that left bruises and seeping wounds on the boy’s buttocks.

The boy said his father would beat him more if he cried, so to muffle his whimpers, he bit into the cushions of the couch as he was hit.

The Hambergs also bound the boy at night to keep him from disturbing their sleep and to punish him for stealing food for his pets, the documents state.

They reportedly taped his hands to the headboard of his bed and sometimes tied his feet to a doorknob and taped his hands behind his back.

“He indicated that he had a difficult time sleeping in this position,” the records state. “Moreover, when (John Hamberg) would cut the tape off the child’s hands, he would sometimes cut skin off of the child’s wrists.”

The boy reportedly sustained severe rope burns around his ankles and nerve damage in his left hand. He had large scabs on his wrists Thursday, according to the documents.

John Hamberg also is accused of slamming his son’s head on a concrete floor until a 3-inch gash opened on the boy’s forehead.

Instead of taking his son to a doctor, John Hamberg stitched up the cut with a sewing needle and thread, the court records state.

The boy, who was home-schooled, told investigators he was afraid to report the abuse because his mother told him he would be taken away and never see his family again.

He made up excuses about his wounds when asked about them, according to the records.

An arraignment is scheduled for next week.

, DataTimes