Charlie Bothuell's stepmother accused of hiding boy in basement

Stepmother of 12-year-old Detroit boy who was missing for week arrested on probation violation

DETROITThe stepmother of 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell appeared in court Friday morning.

Monique Dillard-Bothuell, 37, was arrested Thursday on a parole violation unrelated to the boy's disappearance. She had been previously convicted for purchasing a pistol without a permit.

Defense attorneys say they plan to contest the probation violation charge. A hearing will be held on July 11.

Prosecutors requested that Dillard-Bothuell be held without bond, noting that she did not turn herself in on the charge. Defense lawyers called that assertion "highly disingenuous," saying she would have turned herself in if it had been requested.

View: Timeline of Charlie Bothuell disappearance

Stepmother to be released on $5,000 bond

Judge Gregory Bill ruled against holding her until the July 11 hearing. Dillard-Bothuell will be released on a $5,000 personal bond and has to wear a tether.

Her 4-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter had been turned over to Child Protective Services.

Dillard-Bothuell's arrest came a day after her 12-year-old stepson was found alive and well in a basement.

Detroit police and the FBI had been looking for Bothuell after he was reported missing by his father, who said he disappeared on June 16.

Attorney: Court documents say stepmom made Charlie stay in basement

Dillard-Bothuell is accused of telling the boy to go into the basement and stay there, according to an attorney for Charlie Bothuell's father. The attorney cited documents from a Friday afternoon custody hearing, which included accusations that Charlie had bruises and marks after allegedly being physically and verbally abused by his father and stepmother.

"I read this petition. It says that Monique took (Charlie) into the basement and hid him and told him not to come out," said Mark Magison, the attorney for Charlie Bothuell's father. "Why would she do that? I don't understand that. It makes no sense. This is the same woman who then got the police involved and brought all of this on. None of this make sense."

Boy found Wednesday in father's basement

Officers found Bothuell while executing a search warrant at his father's home as part of the investigation into his disappearance. It's not clear if the boy had been there the entire time. Officers had been inside the home before and cadaver dogs searched the house last week.

Read: Timeline of the Charlie Bothuell disappearance

Bothuell was initially taken to a hospital for an evaluation, questioned by police and released to his mother.

Dillard-Bothuell released with tether

Monique Dillard-Bothuell was released from William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramick on Saturday around 1:55 p.m. Local 4 saw Charlie's father pick his wife up and leave the facility.


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