A Clayton County court near Atlanta has ruled out bail for a father and step mother, who kept a 13-year-old boy behind a wall for four years.
The news of the boy's rescue left people across US shocked, after it came forward that the boy who had gone missing in 2010 was kept in captivation by his own father, who did not want to return his son to his biological mother.
On Sunday, 37-year-old Gregory Jean and 42-year-old Samantha Davis were presented at the court for their initial appearance after being arrested from their home in Georgia on Saturday. They have been charged with obstruction, false imprisonment and child cruelty.
Local media reports suggest that the couple has been denied bond and therefore must stay in jail for now. At the time of the rescue of the young teenager, police had also arrested three juveniles. It is not clear if the juvenile are the children of Jean and Davis.
The rescued boy was hidden behind a false wall in a linen cupboard of Jean and Davis's home in Jonesboro, near Atlanta.
According to multiple reports, the boy had gone to meet his father in 2010, after which he went missing. His biological mother who is an immigrant, did not possibly know the procedures to file a missing complaint and intimated only Child Welfare Authorities about the boy's disappearance.
Four years later, the boy somehow managed to drop texts to his mother with the help of a phone app, following which she informed the police about the boy's location.
When the police first went to the couple's house to rescue the boy, Jean and Davis denied having any knowledge of the missing boy. However, the police went back to their house for a second time, after the boy was able to tell his mother the exact place where he was kept hidden, and rescued him.
Neighbours of the couple expressed shock at learning the news and said that while they had seen the boy working in the yard several times, but they did not doubt foul play as they were the told the child was home-schooled.
"It shocked all of us, honestly," one neighbor told AFP. "They were really nice people, they were open. They were like, 'Hey, come over any time you want.'"
Jean and Davis will appear in the court again on 9 December.
